On this day in 1967, the socialist revolutionary Ché Guevara was captured by U.S.-trained Bolivian soldiers in a C.I.A. operation. The following day the soldiers executed him, cut his hands off, looted his personal items as trophies and dumped his body in an unmarked grave.

The US government maintained for decades that the order to kill Che came from Bolivian leadership, but US gov documents released through FOIA show that the order for the kill operation came directly from the White House.

The US government was obsessed with assassinating Che. The US believed that his death would ensure that the example of the Cuban revolution would not inspire other revolutionary Socialist movements across the world.

After parading his body in front of the media, the C.I.A.'s kill team secretly buried his body where they hoped it would never be found. For 30 years his remains were missing, but in July 1997, his bones were located on the outskirts of Villegrande, Bolivia.

Félix Rodríguez, a Cuban exile turned CIA Special Activities Division operative, who was involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion, advised Bolivian troops during the hunt for Guevara in Bolivia. Rodriguez stole Che’s watch and wore it for years afterwards.

The CIA had tried to follow Che ever since 1954, and in 1962, had used Chicago mobster Johnny Rosselli to try to poison Che in Cuba. The operation to track down Che was supervised by sixteen US Green Berets.

Twenty of the top twenty-three Bolivian military men heading Bolivia’s U.S.-supported dictatorship at the time of Che’s execution were trained at the U.S. School of the Americas.

Guevara wrote his own epitaph, stating: "Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this our battle cry may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons."

Che’s flashlight along with other personal items are on display at CIA’s headquarters. https://m.facebook.com/Central.Intelligence.Agency/posts/1859717737376557