|
Legendary guerrilla’s belongings
presented to Cuba
Nuria Barbosa León / Fotos: Ismael Batista
|
Legendary guerrilla
Tamara Bunke. |
Cuba
has received several personal items belonging to
Tamara Bunke, known as Tania la Guerrillera, the
only female combatant within the group of insurgents
led by Ernesto Che Guevara in Bolivia, in 1967.
A
former foreign minister of the former German
Democratic Republic, Hans Modrow, honorary president
of the Left Party, delivered the items, including a
uniform, notebooks, photographs and documents which
were in the safekeeping of the German solidarity
group Cubasí. They were donated by Tamara’s mother
Nadia, in 2003.
Born
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 19, 1937,
Tamara Bunke was the daughter of a German father and
Polish mother, both communists who had sought refuge
in Argentina, in 1935, feeling Nazi persecution.
When Tamara was 15 years old, the family returned to
the Democratic Republic of Germany, to contribute to
the construction of socialism there.
|
Hans Modrow, honorary
president of the Left Party, presents
items which belonged to Tamara Bunke to
José Ramón Balaguer, head of the
Communist Party of Cuba’s foreign
relations department and Kenia Serrano,
president of the Cuban Friendship
Institute (ICAP), at that organization’s
headquarters. |
In
1960, Tamara met Che, who had traveled to the GDR
leading a commercial delegation, which she and her
mother supported as translators. The following year,
the legendary guerilla arrived in Cuba on the
invitation of the National Ballet. Given her
language skills in French, English, German, Spanish,
plus some Italian, she worked at the Ministry of
Education, the Cuban Friendship Institute and the
national headquarters of the Federation of Cuban
Women.
Recognizing Tamara’s ability and intelligence, Che
assigned her the responsibility of preparing
logistical support for the guerilla group’s arrival
in Bolivia. She later joined the troop led by Cuban
Juan Vitalio Acuña Núñez (Joaquín), and was killed
in a battle in Vado de Yeso, August 31, 1967.
|
Possessions of Tamara
Bunke
donated to Cuba. |
During the presentation ceremony, Hans Modrow
emphasized that more than 200 workplaces and youth
brigades in the former GDR bore Tamara’s name , and
said, “We are making an effort to keep the memory of
Tamara Bunke alive. We have the obligation to
struggle for her ideals.”
ICAP
President Kenia Serrano Puig announced the creation
of a Voluntary Translators Club which will bear
Tamara’s name and presented the solidarity
organization Cubasí with a painting by Cubans Daucel
Valdés and Abel Morejón, featuring a silhouette of
the heroine set among mountains and palms.
During a recounting of Tamara’s life, Carolina
Aguilar emphasized the inter-nationalist’s
dedication to revolutionary causes and social
justice, wherever she was living, in Argentina,
Germany, Cuba and Bolivia.
|
