** Camping Trip from Hell **
Real warfare is boring. Guerrilla warfare is also boring, just more uncomfortable. The Bolivian diary describes the petty squabbles and minor victories of camping and hiking around the outskirts of civilization in what seems to have been a hopeless struggle at the end of Che’s short life. Think boy-scouts with more starvation and an occasional ambush.
The Diary is not lyrical, nor does it contain much in the way of the overall mission that Che was trying to achieve. Monthly summaries contained the same lack of progress, hope for future progress, and expectation of success. Most entries included the elevation that he camped at. Even right near the end, the most pessimism Che can muster was * The peasants are not helping us with anything, and are now becoming informers. * It’s a short read, but a quick and bitter dose of reality to remember what the selective use of force entails.
Written from an elevation of 30 meters.