HPG: Ten Soldiers Were Killed in Revolutionary Guerrilla Operation in Zap

In a statement on Saturday, the Press Office of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) reported that guerrillas carried out a revolutionary operation on 20 February in the Zap region of the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

Guerrilla operation against the Turkish troops in Kurojaro

“In the face of the continuous attacks by the occupying Turkish army from the air and land, our guerrilla forces responded within the framework of legitimate defense,” said the HPG. According to the statement, the operation, conducted in memory of the guerrillas who have fallen as martyrs recently, was directed against the Turkish troops in Kurojaro Resistance Area.

The HPG statement said: “Our forces, equipped with the selfless spirit of Apoism, advanced from three sides into enemy positions using infiltration tactics and overran it. The invaders’ positions were attacked quickly and effectively. Some of the occupiers fled their positions, while others who responded were eliminated. The capture of the hill took about 20 minutes. During this time, all positions were fired upon with grenades, light hand weapons and automatic rifles at close range and destroyed. A weapons depot, a surveillance camera and a mobile cable car were also destroyed, and five army tents were set on fire. Weapons and other military equipment found in other tents were seized.

Ten soldiers killed, including a high-ranking commander

The bodies of ten occupiers were inspected by our forces, including a high-ranking commander of the Turkish occupying army. The names of three killed soldiers are Ilhan Köksoy, Hüseyin Özdal and Eyüp Öksüz. However, the Turkish state is concealing the actual extent of its defeat in Kurojaro and has only admitted the loss of soldier Mustafa Uslu. We would like to make the public aware that the official statements regarding our revolutionary operation do not correspond to the truth. The Turkish Ministry of Defense’s claim that 17 members of the guerrilla forces were killed in retaliation for the death of the aforementioned soldier is also a fabrication.”

Three guerrillas martyred in an ambush near Amadiya

On the other hand, HPG reported that three of their members were martyred on Friday near the district of Amadiya. The group was reportedly moving in the area surrounding the village of Guherzê when they were “treacherously targeted from behind” by armed individuals in civilian clothing. Footage of the attack has also been released by the Roj News agency. In the video, which was sent to the agency by a witness, several Turkish-speaking people can be seen in a vehicle with civilian license plates, shooting in the same direction. One of the men shouts: “He/she blew himself up, get us out of here.

According to the HPG, the identity of “these cowardly and devious” individuals has not yet been fully established. However, it announced that it would hold them accountable for the loss of their members and stated that “from now on, all vehicles moving between Derêlûk and Amadiya that do not bear a license plate with the flag of South Kurdistan will be considered enemies and legitimate targets of attack”.

Further guerrilla actions in South Kurdistan

The HPG also provided details of further guerrilla actions carried out against Turkish occupation forces in South Kurdistan in recent days and weeks but have not yet been made public. According to the statement, on Thursday two Turkish military positions raised on the Girê Amêdîyê on the western front of the Zap region were hit by guerrilla artillery and damaged. A day earlier, the air defense unit “Şehîd Axîn Mûş” destroyed a military position at Girê Bahar with drones. On February 6, a soldier was shot dead by an HPG sniper while replacing the surveillance cameras in the area. In addition, Turkish military equipment for day and night surveillance was destroyed at Girê Bahar.

Attacks by the Turkish army

Regarding the most recent attacks by the Turkish army on South Kurdistan, HPG announced that its tunnel system under the Girê Cûdî massif, also on the western Zap front, was attacked with banned explosives on Tuesday and massive air strikes were carried out.

From last Sunday until today, the HPG recorded at least 32 waves of air strikes targeting areas in Xakurke, Qendîl, Gare, Metîna and Zap.

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=17111

To All Young People: Come to Rojava and Join the Revolution

Dear comrades, dear young people, dear young women from all over the world,

Here in Rojava we are living through a historic moment. On the one hand, the attacks against the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria are becoming more and more heavy. But on the other hand, the resistance of the people is grows stronger day by day. Once again, history is being written here, especially by the freedom-loving women and the rebellious youth.

We are all familiar with the political situation here in north-east Syria. With the strategy of the Revolutionary People’s War, society is playing the necessary role in the fight against the fascism of the Turkish state. Although it is the second time that the people of Afrin have had to leave their homes, they are again organizing themselves into communities in the refugee camps and the young people are joining the local self-defense units and educating themselves.

The fact that the fascist, Erdogan, has been announcing a major invasion of Kobane for two weeks now, but is still stuck at the bridge in Qerekozakh and the water dam in Tishrin because of the heroic resistance of the SDF, YPJ and YPG, shows us once again that there is no hegemonic state, no war technology, no special warfare and no Islamist mercenaries that can compete with an organized, educated and resisting society.

What is our role as internationalist, democratic and Apoist youth? For some, maybe it is enough to get involved as internet activists, to comment and post. For others it is enough to go to demonstrations and actions. But now when the mothers of Kobane are calling on the youth to defend the revolution with the spirit of Kobane, what does that mean for us? Who are they calling?

In 2014, the resistance of Kobane against ISIS caused a global outcry. Hundreds of internationalists from all over the world headed to Rojava to join the Revolutionary People’s War and the building of the paradigm of democracy, ecology and women’s liberation. It is clear that the Turkish state is more determined than ever to use the most immoral methods to take control of all of Syria and destroy the values built by society here. But on the other hand, our hope for success is greater than ever.

Strengthening the youth and young women’s movement and the revolutionary journalistic works here in Rojava, according to Rêber APO’s paradigm, means defending the achievements of the revolution in this time of change. We can now choose to take on this work. To take responsibility. If we do this we can play a decisive role in the democratization of Syria and the entire Middle East.

To those who follow the news and just can’t sit still. To those who go to demonstrations but feel like they don’t contribute enough. To those who follow in the footsteps of Şehîd Lêgerîn Çiya, Şehîd Dilsoz Bihar, Şehîd Hêlîn Qereçox, Şehîd Andok Cotkar and many other Şehîds. To those who want to answer the call of the mothers from Kobane.
COME TO ROJAVA!

Now is the time to experience the revolution on the ground and learn and fight together. Whether with a pen, a brush, a camera or a weapon in your hand – every one has a role to take.

Revolutionary Greetings and Respect,

The Internationalist Commune of Rojava

If you want to come, contact us here: internationalistcommune@riseup.net

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=13494

Guerrillas Berfîn Roj and Têkoşîn Dilgeş fell as martyrs in November 2023 in an attack by the Turkish state in the Medya Defense Areas. The command of the YJA Star (Free Women’s Units) said in a statement: “Our comrades Berfîn and Têkoşîn were revolutionary advocates of the women’s liberation ideology in Kurdistan’s freedom struggle. We remember them with respect and gratitude and reaffirm our promise to continue their struggle until victory.”

The YJA Star expressed its condolences to the families of the fallen, as well as to all women fighting for freedom and to the Kurdish people. The following information was given in the obituary regarding the identity of Berfîn Roj and Têkoşîn Dilgeş:

Code name: Berfîn Roj

First and last name: Caize Selber

Place of birth: Sêrt

Names of mother and father: Sakine – Mehmet

Date and place of death: 30/11/2023 Medya Defense Areas

Code name: Têkoşîn Dilgeş

First and last name: Şîrvan Ulaş

Place of birth: Amed

Names of mother and father: Perîxan – Süleyman

Date and place of death: 30/2023 Medya Defense Areas

Berfîn Roj

Berfîn Roj was born in Sêrt-Şêrwan and grew up in Istanbul with an awareness of her Kurdish identity. The uprisings in Kurdistan in the early 1990s and the brutal crackdown by the state on freedom movements also had an impact on the Turkish metropolises. Because her uncle was wanted, Berfîn was abducted and tortured by the Turkish state in 1993 at the age of twelve.

The experiences she had at that time formed the basis for her fight for dignity and existence, which she would lead for the next thirty years. She dropped out of school and became active in the Kurdish youth association YCK (Yekitiya Ciwanên Kurdistan).

After Abdullah Öcalan was captured in 1999, she went to the mountains of Dersim and joined the guerrillas. She was already familiar with collective life in the PKK movement from her political work in the civilian sector, so it was not difficult for her to adjust. After two years in Dersim and Erzîrom, she came to the Medya Defense Areas and had the opportunity to receive further military and ideological training in Xinêre and Qendîl.

During her academic training, she internalized the principles of the women’s liberation ideology and made them her life’s principle. From 2005, she fought in the Zap and Zagros regions and gained war experience. After that, she served for a long time as commander of the associations of free women in Qendîl and Behdînan. Her struggle was not limited to the military field; she also worked in Başûr (South Kurdistan) and other areas to organize women and to convey Abdullah Öcalan’s philosophy of freedom to the population.

Têkoşîn Dilgeş

Têkoşîn Dilgeş was born in Amed. Her family originally came from Mêrdîn and was close to the PKK. After her older brother Têkoşer (Abidin Ulaş) joined the liberation struggle in 1992 and repression in Kurdistan increased, Têkoşîn moved to Istanbul with her family. Her brother was killed in Amed in 1994. His death marked a turning point in her life. She became active in the YCK youth organization and joined the guerrillas in 1998. She received her first training in the Medya Defense Areas.

Between 2003 and 2009, she fought in Dersim. As a mature fighter and commander of the YJA Star, she finally returned to the Medya Defense Areas and intensively studied the women’s liberation ideology in further training.

In 2011, she was seriously injured in a guerrilla action against the Turkish army. Her strong will to continue the fight played a decisive role in her recovery. After that, she became involved in various areas. She trained fellow campaigners in the health sector and showed great commitment to organizing the population for a self-determined life. When ISIS invaded Kurdistan in 2014, she resisted together with the population and helped to ensure that the Islamist gangs that kidnapped women and sold them in slave markets were defeated by free women.

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/10/19/yja-star-pays-tribute-to-guerrillas-berfin-roj-and-tekosin-dilges/

The Press Office of the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) released a statement providing information about the latest actions carried out by the guerrillas and attacks by the Turkish army in the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

Xakurkê region

According to the statement, guerrillas struck the invaders in Girê Şehîd Hêmin area in Xakurkê region with heavy weapons at 12:50 on 2 September. Four soldiers were killed and two others wounded as a result of the action. The Turkish army announced that Infantry Major Osman Ayan, who was killed in this action, died of a heart attack.

Metîna region

On 5 September at 13:20, the invaders who attempted to take up positions in Serê Metîna Resistance Area were shot with heavy weapons. After the action carried out by YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops), the occupiers’ mobility stopped.

Şehîd Delîl Western Zap region

In the Girê Cûdî Resistance Area, guerrillas struck the Turkish occupation troops five times with heavy weapons on 4-5 September, forcing the invaders to retreat one stage back.

In the Girê Amediyê Resistance Area, guerrillas targeted the invaders eight times and prevented their mobility in the region.  On 4 September at 22:00, a Turkish Sikorsky helicopter in Girê Amediyê Resistance Area was intervened by the YJA Star guerrillas.

Attacks carried out by the Turkish army with banned explosives;

On 4 September, the guerrillas’ tunnels in Girê FM Resistance Area were bombed twice with banned explosives.
On 5 September, the guerrillas’ tunnels in Girê Amediyê Resistance Area were bombed twice with banned explosives.

Other attacks carried out by the Turkish army;

On 3, 4, 5 and 6 September, Turkish warplanes carried out a total of 20 airstrikes, targeting the areas of Lolan, Girê Rostê and Şehîd Şerîf in Xakurkê region; the Deşta Kafya area in the Garê region; the Serê Metîna Resistance Area in the Metîna region; the Girê Bahar Resistance Area in the Şehîd Delîl Western Zap region; and the areas of Mêranê, Girê Sîser and Sêdarê in the Garê region.

On 3 and 5 September, the Serê Metîna Resistance Area in Metîna region was bombed 7 times by attack helicopters.

In other news the Press Center of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) has issued a statement on four guerrillas who fell in North Kurdistan. According to the statement, Xebat Cûdî and Zamani Amanos were killed in an air raid by the Turkish army in the Kêla Memê area of ​​Botan on 17 August.

After their deaths, the area continued to be intensively bombed by fighter jets and helicopters, then ground troops were deployed and fighting broke out. Guerrilla commander Serhed Jêhat and the fighter Yılmaz Dersîm died on 18 August after clashes that lasted for hours when the Turkish air force bombed their base again and they used their last ammunition on themselves to avoid being taken prisoner alive.

The HPG paid tribute to the martyrs as Kurdistan revolutionaries who were willing to make sacrifices and who fought for the freedom and existence of their people until the last moment of their lives. Their unconditional militant attitude was a model for  further struggle, and their memory would live on. The HPG expressed its condolences to the relatives and the Kurdish people. In the statement, the HPG provided the following information about the identities and biographies of the martyrs:

Code name: Serhed Jêhat

First and last name: Veysel Sevinç

Place of birth: Agirî

Names of mother and father: Melek – Abdulgafur

Date and place of death: August 18, 2024 / Botan

Code name: Yılmaz Dersîm

First and last name: Barış Kartal

Place of birth: Şirnex

Names of mother and father: Fatma – Abdullah

Date and place of death: August 18, 2024 / Botan

Code name: Xebat Cûdî

First and last name: Reşit Çevik

Place of birth: Şirnex

Names of mother and father: Saadet – Müslüm

Date and place of death: August 17, 2024 / Botan

Code name: Zamani Amanos

First and last name: Serhat Güzel

Place of birth: Mêrdîn

Names of mother and father: Mülkiye – Ömer

Date and place of death: August 17, 2024 / Botan

Serhed Jêhat

Serhed Jêhat was born in Agirî-Panos and grew up in a Kurdish village untouched by state influences until he started school. His family taught him the basic principle of always striving for the good, the right and the beautiful in life. This attitude shaped his entire life.

At school, a foreign language and culture were forced on him and he was expected to declare his Turkishness. That was his first confrontation with the Turkish state. When he later moved to a Turkish city to work, he became even more aware of the hostile attitude towards Kurds.

At the same time, the Kurdish liberation struggle had an impact on his life. His family and close relatives sympathized with the freedom movement and Serhed Jêhat began to read analyses by Abdullah Öcalan and to engage with colonialism in Kurdistan.

He joined the guerrillas with his relatives Jêhat Agirî (Erhan Serhat) and Serxwebûn Jêhat (Sinan Serhat). The two relatives later fell as martyrs. Due to various circumstances, they were unable to join at the same time, but Serhed Jêhat kept his promise and followed his relatives into the mountains on 15 August 2005. He viewed this step as a conscious rebirth, with which he returned to his true identity, rejected capitalist modernity and adopted the ideology of a free life. He took part in basic training in Xakurke and stayed in the region for two years.

After that, he spent two years in the Şehîdan area. After a stay at the central party school in the mountains, he fought in Botan and assumed responsibilities at command level. In 2016, he was injured in an enemy attack and was receiving medical treatment in the Medya Defense Areas. After his recovery, he was back in Botan. In 2019, he undertook further training and was then appointed to the regional command of Xakurke. During his last deployment in Botan, he was faced with the option of being injured and taken prisoner by the enemy or dying as a self-sacrificing militant in the fight for freedom. “Our comrade Serhed went down in history with his fight and his death as one of the great heroes of the Fedai guerrilla,” said the HPG.

Yılmaz Dersîm

Yılmaz Dersîm was born in Şirnex-Silopiya and belonged to the Sipêrtî tribe. His family was close to the Kurdish liberation movement and many people from his environment joined the PKK. He grew up aware of his Kurdish identity and developed a political attitude at an early age. His childhood was shaped by the war in Kurdistan and the oppression by the Turkish state. He only went to school for a short time because he was not allowed to speak his native language. At a funeral of fallen guerrilla, he swore revenge. In 2013, he went to the mountains in his home region of Botan and joined the freedom struggle. He received basic training in the Medya Defense Areas and developed quickly.

Life in the mountains was not difficult for him. With his enthusiasm and disciplined way of working, he was able to help his fellow fighters with many questions. In practice and further training, he became an ideologically equipped fighter with military expertise. He was aware of his responsibility as a freedom fighter for his people and was ready to make any sacrifice. Therefore, he was constantly looking for ways to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

In Kêla Memê he fought until the last bullet, which he kept for himself so as not to be captured alive.

Xebat Cudi

Xebat Cûdî was born in Şirnex and grew up with the culture of resistance for which Botan is known. As a child, he became aware of his Kurdish identity. His mother told him about the actions of the Turkish state in the 1990s, when thousands of villages in Kurdistan were burned down and people were expelled using brutal methods.

After the massacres of the population during the resistance for self-government in North Kurdistan, he decided to take up armed struggle and went to the mountains in Garzan in 2016 to join the guerrillas. There he learned the first basic skills for guerrilla warfare, and came to the Medya Defense Areas for in-depth training. Because he won the trust of his comrades with his mature personality and his strong connection to the freedom movement, he was soon given important tasks, which he fulfilled continuously and successfully for a long time.

He devoted himself intensively to the philosophy of Abdullah Öcalan and continued his military training. At his own request, he eventually returned to Bakur, where he was killed in an enemy attack in Kêla Memê on 17 August.

Zamani Amanos

Zamani Amanos was born in Mêrdîn-Dêrik and spent his childhood in Riha-Weranşar. He grew up in a politicized environment and knew the PKK as a child.

The war in Kurdistan and in particular the scorched earth policy and extra-legal executions in the 1990s showed him the reality of the Turkish state. Due to the denial of Kurdish identity, he basically spoke his mother tongue Kurmancî to protect himself. In addition to school, he worked to help support his family.

During his studies, he became active in the Kurdish youth movement. He studied civil engineering in Iskenderun and had the prospect of a materially well-provided life, but he preferred a free life in the PKK movement. In the following period, he took on tasks in various places in North Kurdistan and worked conspiratorially in the YPS structures. For this, he was arrested and spent five years in prison.

He took advantage of this time and left prison as an ideologically mature and equipped apoist militant. His release came at a time of intense attacks on the Kurdish movement, and Zamani went to the mountains. In the guerrillas, his fellow fighters were able to benefit from the knowledge he had acquired in prison. He went through an intensive training phase and became a professional guerrilla. Knowing that the PKK’s struggle is based on selflessness and sacrifice, he went to Bakur on his own suggestion.

In Kêla Memê, he joined the caravan of the martyrs during an enemy attack on 17 August, according to the HPG.

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/09/07/hpg-1-infantry-major-and-3-soldiers-were-killed-in-xakurke/

The People’s Defense Forces (HPG) have announced the death of Orhan Cihat Bingöl. The long-time guerrilla commander, who was also a member of the HPG Command Council, was killed in an attack by the Turkish state in the Medya Defense Areas in early June. The HPG wrote that “Hevalê Orhan, who dedicated his entire life to the struggle for the freedom of our people and resisted continuously on every inch of Kurdistan for almost 33 years. He was a unique revolutionary. He fought tirelessly, with an unshakable, sincere, determined, disciplined, endless enthusiasm and passion. He loved Kurdistan and its majestic rebellious mountains, which he explored step by step and transformed into a lodge of resistance like a dervish. He was a great revolutionary commander whose only commitment was to the freedom of our people.”

The statement added: “From ARGK fighter to commander of small units and entire companies in areas and regions, Hevalê Orhan worked at all levels within our guerrilla army. He achieved incredible things, trained thousands of friends with love and passed on his revolutionary experiences. He knew how to be wherever our struggle required him to be, and how to take on the revolutionary tasks of the time. In the 33 years of his revolutionary life, Comrade Orhan fought with the youthful spirit of the PKK, without hesitation and without tiring, until the day he fell a martyr.”

The HPG provided the following information about Orhan Cihat Bingöl:

Code name: Orhan Cihat Bingöl

First and last name: Ali Dinçer

Place of birth: Çewlîg

Mother’s and father’s names: Kibar – Keke

Date and place of death: 6/6/2024 / Medya Defense Areas

Orhan Cihat Bingöl was born in 1960 in Hop, a village in Xorxol (tr. Yayladere) district in Çewlîg (Bingöl) province. The region borders Dersim and is characterized by the tradition and culture of the resistance stronghold.

Orhan Cihat Bingöl grew up in a social environment that was beyond the influences and manipulations of capitalist modernity. This reality had a formative effect on his personality and the later development of his social behavior.

The statement added: “At the beginning of the 1990s, the Kurdish people had pushed the dead earth away from them with the beginning of the armed resistance on 15 August 1984 and had moved on to the revolutionary popular uprisings, the so-called Serhildan, under the motto ‘The resurrection is complete – time for liberation’. Orhan Cihat Bingöl began to take a closer look at the Kurdish movement. The great struggle for existence and freedom of the Kurdish people, which was no longer only to be found in the mountains of Kurdistan, had an impact on the whole of Turkey and also on the left-wing movements. In such an environment and process, he felt more and more sympathy for the Kurdistan freedom movement. Extensive research and intensive discussions cemented in him the idea that the liberation of Kurdistan and Turkey, the construction of real socialism and social freedom could be achieved through the PKK. Hevalê Orhan had recognized and understood the apoist ideology and broke with the existing system. He joined the apoists because he was now an apoist himself. He left his studies, marriage and children behind and joined the guerrillas because he was ready to fight for the freedom of his people and his homeland.”

The statement continued: “When Orhan Cihat Bingöl joined the guerrillas in 1992 in Çewlîg, the PKK was still calling itself the Kurdistan People’s Liberation Army (ARGK). As soon as he was in the mountains, he went to Behdînan, where a hot war was raging. He received a short training, and took up arms. Thousands of villages in Northern Kurdistan suffered at the hands of Turkey, which said it was “fighting the PKK”, and around 17,000 people were murdered by state counter-forces. The number of people driven from their homes ran into the millions.

In 1995, Orhan Cihat Bingol went to Damascus and attended classes given by its founder, Abdullah Öcalan, at the PKK’s central party school. About a year later, he returned to Northern Kurdistan as a team commander, and spent the next few years serving in the Erzîrom province. From 2000, he was back in the Medya Defense Areas. The PKK was going through turbulent times at that time, with Abdullah Öcalan being abducted from Kenya to Turkey in violation of international law, a variety of ideological and organizational attacks from within and without, and the paradigm shift that began soon afterward.”

The HPG expressed its condolences to the relatives of Orhan Cihat Bingöl and the Kurdish people.

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/09/01/hpg-pays-tribute-to-commander-orhan-cihat-bingol/

Tamara Bunke Bíder was born in Argentina on November 19, 1937. Her father was German and her mother Polish, they had fled Nazi Germany. On August 31, 1967, she became Tania; she died in combat with a group of guerrillas from the column commanded by Che Guevara.

“We arrived in Argentina babbling Spanish, we were learning the language on the boat,” said Nadia Bunke, Tamara’s mother. “We had relatives in Argentina, including my grandmother; those were our first relationships, then we met other German refugees, but above all my husband made the necessary contacts as soon as possible and obtained entry into the Argentine Communist Party. We continue to work clandestinely, now in Argentina; in that environment Tamara was born and raised.”

Tamara or “Ita” as she was called in the family, lived the first years in the neighborhood of Saavedra, and then moved to Corrientes and Pasteur, a typical neighborhood of the Jewish community. Ita attended her first studies at the Cangallo Shule School, a private school that had German as a second language.

Although her parents tried to prevent their children from handling too much information about their political activities – for security reasons – there was a communist atmosphere in their home. When Tamara began studying at the Normal School 9 she joined the Communist Youth Federation (FJC).

The journalist Isidoro Gilbert points out in his book La Fede that she was a collaborator of the magazine “Juventud”, organ of the FJC. In 1952, Tamara emigrated with her parents to the German Democratic Republic, being admitted to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in 1955, at the age of 18. In East Berlin she studied at the Faculty of Arts of the Humboldt University, having also been a shooting sports instructor. There she met Che Guevara in 1960, when the Argentine traveled at the head of a commercial delegation of the Cuban revolutionary government.

“She had the idea that while in Cuba she was going to learn in depth about the Cuban Revolution and that this would serve her in her revolutionary work, which she imagined she would later develop in Argentina. If she thought and felt that her duty was to fight in Latin America, we had no right to hold her,” her parents said.

For the New Year’s Eve festivities of 1958 she writes a very melancholy letter where she says: “I am listening to Carlos Gardel singing some of our most beloved tangos, and you can imagine how nostalgic I feel”. But the link with Che and the Cuban Revolution changed her plans. Tamara Bunke decided to travel to Cuba, arriving in Havana on May 12, 1961. In this country she studied journalism at the University of Havana. She had learned to play the piano, although the guitar and accordion were her favorite instruments, with them she accompanied herself by singing.

On May 25, 1962, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples celebrated the national day with an Argentine colony in Havana, in Río Cristal. Almost 400 people participated, including Cuban and Argentine residents, technicians, artists and guests. Che summarized the party, in which he spoke of the armed struggle in Latin America and made a historical analysis of Argentina. “This moment, repeated many times in the course of our lives, today has a special significance, a special tone and a special color. It is here in another country of America, in new conditions of America, where we celebrate once again the 25th of May, and this time the usual speeches are not heard and there is no well-known fanfare, the hollow words with which the rulers of the day always try to become co-participants in the glory of the old heroes (…) Let us think that we are part of an army that fights for its liberation in every part of the world where it has not yet been achieved, and let us prepare to celebrate another May 25, no longer in this generous land, but in our own land and under new symbols.”

Also present that day was the historic leader of revolutionary Peronism John William Cook, who was a member of the Argentine-Cuban Friendship Institute, who echoed Che’s speech, publicly assuming Guevara’s revolutionary call.

Tamara was later selected to be part of Ernesto Guevara’s revolutionary project. After her training in Cuba and Czechoslovakia, she was part of the advance guard to generate the conditions in Bolivia for the later guerrilla commanded by Che. In this highland country she operated clandestinely with a double personality. From that moment on, Tamara becomes “Tania”.

Her training partner in Czechoslovakia José Gómez Abad “Diosdado” in his book “Como el Che burlo a la CIA” describes her as “a cheerful, sentimental and romantic young woman. She dreamed, loved, and had beautiful illusions for a future; however, in herself, high goals prevailed, the fulfillment of the commitment made and the revolutionary duty.”

Tania along with 8 other guerrillas fell into an ambush by the Bolivian army at the ford of Puerto Mauricio. She belonged to the guerrilla rearguard group commanded by Ernesto Che Guevara, who would be assassinated very shortly after, on October 9, 1967.

After Tania’s death, fantastic stories began to spread, real slanders about her life. One of them is that she was Ernesto Guevara’s lover. Another falsehood is that she was a triple agent (German-Soviet-Cuban).

Over the years, her figure grows to become a reference and an example for future generations. Gómez Abad ends by saying in his book: “Tamara dreamed, fought for a better world and was consistent with her ideals until the end of her days. The seeds she sowed, years later, are seen reborn in her mestizo and exploited Latin America. That was her main work and the imperishable legacy she left.”

SOURCE: Aporrea

Via Resumen Latinoamericano

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/08/31/anniversary-of-the-death-of-tania-the-guerrilla/