Tamara Bunke | |
|---|---|
 Bunke in 1962 wearing the tiltedberet of the newly formed Cuban People's Defence Militia | |
| Born | Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider (1937-11-19)November 19, 1937 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Died | August 31, 1967(1967-08-31) (aged 29) Vallegrande Province, Bolivia |
| Cause of death | Killed in action |
| Resting place | Che Guevara Mausoleum Santa Clara, Cuba |
| Occupation(s) | Communist revolutionary East German/Cuban spy Journalist |
| Organization | National Liberation Army |
Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider (November 19, 1937 – August 31, 1967) was an Argentine-bornEast German revolutionary known for her involvement in leftist politics and liberation movements.
Born to communist parents, Bunke joined theFree German Youth at fifteen and later studied philosophy at university. She was recruited as an interpreter for theSocialist Unity Party of Germany, where she metChe Guevara during his 1960 visit toLeipzig. In 1961, she moved to Cuba and participated in theCuban literacy campaign and in theFederation of Cuban Women.
Bunke was recruited for theBolivian Campaign, Che Guevara's guerrilla expedition in Bolivia aimed at sparking revolution across Latin America. Using the aliasTania, she infiltrated Bolivian high society and developed ties with Bolivian PresidentRené Barrientos.
In 1966, her cover was blown, leading her to join Guevara's armed guerrilla campaign in Bolivia. During this time, she was responsible for the food and monitoring radio communications. Bunke was killed in 1967 during an ambush byBolivian Army Rangers while attempting to escape with a leg injury and fever.
Born in November 1937 inBuenos Aires, Argentina, Tamara Bunke was the daughter of Erich Bunke and Nadia Bider.[1][2] Nadia Bider Bunke, born in 1912, was a Russian communist who hailed from a Jewish family within theRussian Empire. Tamara's father, Erich Bunke, relocated to Berlin at the age of 18 to pursue studies in architecture. Both Nadia and Erich took part in left-wing politics; however due to Nazi persecution, they were forced to flee to Argentina in 1935.[3] Erich faced persecution for his involvement with theCommunist Party of Germany, while Nadia, being of Jewish descent, also became a target of persecution.[2]
Erich Bunke and Nadia Bider secured positions as teachers upon their arrival in Argentina.[4] Shortly thereafter, they became members of theCommunist Party of Argentina, ensuring that Tamara and her brother Olaf would both grow up in aMarxist-Leninist political atmosphere. Their family home in Buenos Aires was often used for meetings, helping communist refugees, hiding publications and occasionally stashing weapons.[5] In 1952, after the end ofWorld War II, the family came back to the newly createdEast Germany, specifically the town ofEisenhüttenstadt.[6]
Tamara played multiple musical instruments, including the piano, guitar, and accordion, with special interest in Latin American's folk music.[6] By the age of fourteen, she joined the rulingSocialist Unity Party of Germany's (SUPG) youth organization, theFree German Youth (FGY), and by eighteen she joined the SUPG.[5] In addition, she also joined theWorld Federation of Democratic Youth, allowing her to attend theWorld Festival of Youth and Students inVienna,Prague, Moscow andHavana.[7]
Bunke commenced her studies in philosophy[8] or political science,[5] depending on the source, atHumboldt University inEast Berlin, where she distinguished herself due to her linguistic skills; she was fluent in English, Spanish, French and German.[5][8] Bunke soon began working as a translator of several Latin American leaders during their visits to East Germany, particularly those associated with the FGY's International Relations Department.[9]
After theCuban Revolution,Fidel Castro dispatched emissaries to various socialist countries to garner support. In this capacity, in 1960,Che Guevara was sent toLeipzig, East Germany, as part of a Cuban trade delegation. Bunke was assigned to accompany him as his interpreter.[1][8] Subsequently, in 1961, she received an invitation fromAlicia Alonso to travel to Cuba.[10][11]
She first worked as an interpreter for theCuban National Ballet. She also involved herself in voluntary work, namely teaching and participating in the construction of homes and schools in rural areas.[8] As a result, she participated in work brigades, themilitia, and theCuban Literacy Campaign.[12] She also worked in theMinistry of Education, theCuban Institute for Friendship Among People, and theFederation of Cuban Women, where she made close ties withVilma Espín.[12] Additionally, she registered for a journalism degree at theUniversity of Havana.[12]
Tamara worked for the Asociación de Jóvenes Rebeldes, later known as theUnion of Young Communists [es]. She assisted in organizing an international student union conference in Havana. Tamara also joined the People's Defense Militia and collaborated with various Latin American individuals who sought solidarity with their struggles, including Nicaraguan revolutionaryCarlos Fonseca. She actively participated in theinsurgency in Nicaragua, establishing connections with members of theSandinista National Liberation Front.[13]
Dámaso Tabares was entrusted with the task of selecting acompañera forOperation Fantasma in Bolivia. Three candidates were considered, and Tamara was eventually chosen for training to participate in Che Guevara's guerrilla expedition. Guevara's goal was to spark a continent-wide revolutionary uprising into neighboringArgentina,Paraguay,Brazil,Peru, andChile.[8][12]
In preparation, Guevara assigned Bunke to be trained byDariel Alarcón Ramírez [es].[8] It was during this period that she took the name "Tania" as hernom de guerre in honor ofZoya Kosmodemyanskaya, a Sovietpartisan who also used this alias.[12] Between 1963 and 1964, she underwent training, culminating in a period of instruction in Prague, where she received training from theStB. It was during this training that she formed a romantic relationship with Dámaso Tabares.[14]
In October 1964, Tamara Bunke, using the aliasLaura Gutiérrez Bauer, arrived inBolivia as anundercover agent in Che Guevara's final revolutionary campaign. Her mission was to infiltrate Bolivia's political and military elite to gather intelligence on the country's power structures.[8] Posing as a right-wing Argentinefolklore expert, Bunke quickly gained access to high society inLa Paz.[12][15] She befriended high-ranking officials, includingGeneral Alfredo Ovando Candía, head of theBolivian Army, and ultimately won the admiration of PresidentRené Barrientos, even accompanying him on a holiday toPeru.[8]
To solidify her cover, Bunke pursued her interest inBolivian folk music, resulting in one of the most comprehensive collections of Bolivian music. She also married a young Bolivian man in amarriage of convenience, securing citizenship and blending further into Bolivian society. Through her connections, Bunke gathered valuable intelligence on the Bolivian military and reported back to Guevara and Cuban intelligence.[8][12]
In late 1966, Bunke's role shifted as preparations began for the arrival of Guevara's guerrilla forces in Bolivia. She was tasked with organizing safe houses that could also serve as storage sites for supplies and ammunition. However, her frequent cross-border travels to secure resources and accommodations for the incoming fighters raised suspicions and gradually put her cover at risk.[16]
Originally, Bunke was meant to focus solely on intelligence gathering. But with limited personnel on the ground, she found herself actively involved in receiving theguerrillas upon their arrival and transporting them to the Ñancahuazú camp. Guevara himself, under a false identity, arrived at the camp in late 1966, and by March 23, 1967, the guerrilla group, known as theEjército de Liberación Nacional de Bolivia, had officially launched its operations. Days later, Guevara handed Bunke anM-1 rifle, formally enlisting her in the guerrilla column led by Cuban commanderJuan Vitalio Acuña Núñez. In one of her journeys to the Ñancahuazú base, Bunke left her jeep parked at a safe house, where a captured Bolivian communist later revealed its location to authorities. Inside the jeep, her address book was discovered, blowing her cover and forcing her to remain with Guevara's forces.[12][16][17]
As the campaign wore on, Bunke faced harsh conditions in the rugged Bolivian terrain. She began suffering from a high fever, a leg injury, and painful effects from aChigoe flea infestation.[8][12] Seeing her deteriorating health, Guevara decided to attempt an evacuation of 16 ailing guerrilla fighters from the mountains in hopes they could recover.[8][12]
"Will my name one day be forgotten
and nothing of me remain on the Earth?"
Following Tania's rise to prominence in Bolivia she became too easily identifiable, so Che initiated arrangements for her departure. On April 17, a detachment led by Juan Vitalio Acuña Núñez departed from the main guerrilla force due to injuries and illness, which included Tania. Guided by Honorato Rojas, a Bolivian peasant, the group was led to the location where Bolivian soldiers were strategically positioned and concealed.[18][19]
At 5:20 pm on August 31, 1967, the lead guerrilla column was ambushed while crossing theRío Grande at Vado del Yeso.[8] Tania was in the water, when she was shot in the arm and lung and killed along with eight of the insurgents.[8][20] Her body was then carried downstream and only recovered by the Bolivian Army seven days later on September 6. Her corpse was supposedly transferred by helicopter toVallegrande. Days later when her corpse was presented to Barrientos, it was decided that it would be buried in an unmarked grave with the rest of the guerrillas. However, the localcampesino women said she would be given a properChristian burial.[21]
On September 7, when her death was announced over the radio, Guevara, still struggling through the jungles close by, refused to believe the news; suspecting it was army propaganda to demoralize him. Later, whenFidel Castro learned of her demise, he declared "Tania the guerrilla" a hero of theCuban Revolution.[8]
After the research of biographerJon Lee Anderson led to the discovery of Che Guevara's remains in 1997, Bunke's remains were also tracked down to an unmarked grave in a small pit on the periphery of theVallegrande army base on October 13, 1998. They were transferred to Cuba and were interred in theChe Guevara Mausoleum in the city ofSanta Clara, alongside those ofGuevara himself and several other guerrillas killed during theBolivian insurgency.[22][23]
Since her death, Bunke has been the subject of claims suggesting she was atriple agent for the SovietKGB, East GermanStasi, andCuban intelligence, and that she had a romantic relationship with Che Guevara in Bolivia, possibly even carrying his child at the time of her death.[8] However, in 2017, Dr. Abraham Baptista, who conductedautopsies on both Guevara and Bunke, refuted this.[12][24] Additionally, in 2003, Bunke's mother, Nadia, successfully had the bookTania, the Woman Che Guevara Loved by José A. Friedl removed from sale in Germany, as German courts deemed the allegations defamatory. The book repeated a debunked rumor that Bunke had an affair with Guevara while training in Prague, though records show they were never there at the same time.[8][12]
Following Bunke's death, the media swiftly sought to reduce her to merely Che Guevara's romantic partner, thus diminishing her contributions to the Bolivian Campaign.[25] Certain intellectuals associated her as afemme fatale, whose death was due to her extramarital affair with Che.[12]Soviet-Ukrainian astronomerLyudmila Zhuravleva named aminor planet discovered in 1974,2283 Bunke, in her honour.[26] Bunke has been depicted in numerous films, songs, and theatrical productions, most notably, portrayed byFranka Potente in the filmChe.[27][28][29] In fiction literature and games, Tamara's presence is equally notable.[30][31][32] Additionally, duringPatty Hearst's involvement with theSymbionese Liberation Army in 1974, she adopted the alias "Tania".[33]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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