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Bolivian general who captured communist revolutionary Che Guevara dies at age of 84

  • Gary Prado Salmon was in charge of a patrol in southwestern Bolivia on October 8, 1967, that captured the Argentine revolutionary
  • Bolivia’s Congress declared Prado Salmon a national hero for his role in Guevara’s capture. He was left paralysed after being shot in the spine in 1981

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Bolivian former General Gary Prado Salmon in 2007. Salmon, who captured Argentine guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara in 1967, died on Sunday at the age of 84. Photo: AFP

Bolivian general Gary Prado Salmon, who captured communist revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara in 1967, died on Saturday aged 84, his son revealed on social media.

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“He was accompanied by his wife and children,” wrote Gary Prado Arauz on Facebook.

“He left us a legacy of love, honesty and mettle. He was an amazing person.”

A painting of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara on a wall in Old Havana, Cuba. Photo: Shutterstock
A painting of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara on a wall in Old Havana, Cuba. Photo: Shutterstock

Prado Salmon was in charge of a patrol in southwestern Bolivia on October 8, 1967, that captured the Argentine revolutionary, who was injured during the military operation.

A day later, the Bolivian military executed Guevara, who had made his name alongside Fidel Castro during the Cuban communist revolution.

Since mid-April, Prado Salmon had been suffering from health complications and was receiving hospital treatment.

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Bolivia’s Congress declared him a national hero for his role in Guevara’s capture.

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