Hunting Che: How A U.S. Special Forces Team Helped Capture the World's Most Famous Revolutionary

Author(s): Mitch Weiss

History

An iconic symbol of violent revolution, Ernesto "Che" Guevera has gone down in history as one of the most feared revolutionaries of the late twentieth century. But until now, details of his capture and execution have been told with a sympathetic eye toward the icon. Using government reports, documents, and eyewitness accounts, "Hunting Che" reveals how the Green Berets trained Bolivian soldiers in the spring and summer of 1967 to hunt the legendary revolutionary who was hiding in the mountainous jungles of the South American country. A sweeping narrative, "Hunting Che" tells the untold story of one of the first truly successful U.S. Special Forces missions in history--a mission later duplicated in Afghanistan and Iraq.
By the mid-1960s, Guevera had become famous for his outspoken criticism of the United States and his support for armed Communist insurgencies. He had been one of the architects of the Cuban Revolution, and was attempting to repeat his success throughout Latin America. His guerrilla tactics and talent for proselytizing made him a threat to American foreign policy--and when he turned his attention to Bolivia in 1967, the Pentagon made a decision: Che had to be eliminated.
Major Ralph "Pappy" Shelton was called upon to lead the mission to train the Bolivians. With a hand-picked team of specialists, his first task was to transform a ragtag group of peasants into a trained fighting force who could also gather intelligence. Gary Prado, a Bolivian officer, volunteered to join the newly formed Bolivian Rangers. Joined by Felix Rodriguez, a Cuban exile working for the CIA, the Americans and Bolivians searched for Che. The size of Che's group and when they would strike were unknowns, and the stakes were high. If Bolivia fell, it would validate Che's theories and throw South America into turmoil.
"Hunting Che" follows the exploits of Major Shelton, Felix Rodriguez, and Gary Prado--the Bolivian Ranger commander who ultimately captured him. The story begins with Che's arrival in Bolivia and follows the hunt to the dramatic confrontation and capture of the iconic leader in the southeastern village of La Higuera. With the White House and the Pentagon secretly monitoring every move, Shelton and his team changed history, and prevented a catastrophic threat from taking root in the West.
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Product Information

Praise for "No Way Out"

"An adrenaline-fueled narrative that will forever enhance your appreciation of U.S. Special Forces."--Ames Alexander, award-winning investigative reporter with the" Charlotte Observer"

"A powerful portrait of the men who fought to save each other from certain death."--Michael D. Sallah, investigative reporter for the" Miami Herald" and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting

"A front-row seat to one of the most dangerous and ill-conceived battles of Afghanistan."--Joe Mahr, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter

Mitch Weiss is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press. In 2003, he was assigned to an investigative series that uncovered the longest string of atrocities carried out by a U.S. fighting unit in the Vietnam War. In recognition of the series "Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths," which led to an investigation by the Pentagon, he was awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. Weiss currently works for the AP on investigative projects, and an investigative series he wrote about corrupt real estate appraisers won several national awards in 2009. He also was part of a team of AP reporters that won a George Polk Award in 2010 for their coverage of the British Petroleum oil-spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Kevin Maurer has covered special operations forces for eight years. He has been embedded with the U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan six times in the last five years and spent ten weeks with a team of Green Berets in Afghanistan in 2010. He has been embedded with American soldiers in Iraq, East Africa, and Haiti. The author of four books, he cowrote a memoir of a Korean War veteran and a book about the 2006 Battle of Sperwan Ghar.

General Fields

  • : 9780425257463
  • : Penguin Publishing Group
  • : Penguin Publishing Group
  • : 0.522
  • : July 2013
  • : 231mm X 155mm X 33mm
  • : United States
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Mitch Weiss
  • : Hardback
  • : 1
  • : English
  • : 980.035092
  • : 320