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Cuba remembers Vilo Acuña, Che's Second-in-Command, on 40th anniversary of his death

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  • 08 / 29 / 2007
Cuba remembers Vilo Acuña, Che's Second-in-Command, on 40th anniversary of his death
Cuba will pay tribute to a Juan Vitalio Acuña, second-in-command to Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Bolivia from 1966 to 1967. Ceremonies will take place in his home province of Granma on the 31st August-the 40th anniversary of his death.

Remembered as cheerful and sociable, Acuña-known by his nickname Vilo-fought with the revolutionary army from 1957, and in November 1959 was promoted to the highest rank of Commander.

After the triumph of the revolution, Vilo studied and was elected to the Communist party's central committee. In 1965, he was chosen by Che Guevara to join the internationalist guerrilla force to be set up in Bolivia.

He fell on August 31st 1967 in an ambush at Puerto Mauricio on the Río Grande, together with several other guerilla fighters who included Cubans Gustavo Machin and Israel Reyes, Bolivians Apolinar Aquino, Walter Arancibia, Moisés Guevara and Freddy Maymura, as well as the renowned female revolutionary German-Argentinian Haydee Tamara Bunke, also known as Tania.

Source: Radio Habana Cuba

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