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Remains ofd Tania the Guerilla uncovered in Bolivia

From News from Cuba, Tuesday 13 October 1998

OF THE remains of Haydee Tamara Bunke Bider, better known as Tania the Guerrilla have been found in a coffin in Bolivia and are awaiting transfer to Cuba, once the Cuban embassy's paperwork has been completed.

The grave where the remains were uncovered the result of ongoing investigations into possible locations of the remains of the guerrilla forces led by Ernesto Che Guevara - was found in the grounds of the Rotary Club near Valle Grande's airport runway.

The team of Cuban scientists and technical personnel undertaking those Investigations is headed by Dr. Jorge Gonzalez, director of the Cuban Institute of Legal Medicine.

Tania was born in Buenos Aires on November 19, 1937, to German parents who had emigrated to Argentina as a result of Nazi persecu- tion. They subsequently returned to their country to participate in the reconstruction of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Tania was admitted into the ranks of the Unified Socialist Party of Germany at the age of 18.

In 1960 she met Che when he was on a trip to the GDR at the head of a Cuban trade delegation. In 1961, she came to Cuba, where she worked in the Ministry of Education, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and on the national executive board of the Federation of Cuban Women.

She stood out for the love she put into her work and won the affection and sympathy of those who knew her, demonstrating absolute loyalty to our Revolution.

After a rigorous training period, she was given the mission of establishing relations with representatives of the Bolivian ruling class and army, and to create favorable conditions for the opening of the future guerrilla front, arriving in that country at the end of 1964. She undertook this complex task under the name of Laura Gutierrez Bauer.

In early 1966, as a result of her successful work, a Cuban connection informed Tania that she had been granted membership in the Communist Party of Cuba. She linked up directly with the guerrilla forces, - attending to the reception of future combatants and their transportation to the area of operations .

Subsequently, Tania became an active member of the guerrilla army, joining the group led by Comandante Vitalio (Vilo) Acuna, known as Joaquin. The members of that command died on August 31, 1967, when they were ambushed at Vado del Yeso. Tania's body was swept away by the current of the river she was fording, and was found by soldiers on September 6. On September 7, it was taken to the Pando Regiment, and buried between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., in the same location where it has now been uncovered.

Like her comrades, Tania's remains will be laid to rest in the Comandante Che Guevara Monument in the city of Santa Clara, where she will receive a fitting tribute from the people to her memory and example.

Tania died heroically for the freedom of other sister peoples, but will live on forever in the hearts of the Cuban people."