Synopses & Reviews
An iconic symbol of violent revolution, Ernesto and#147;Cheand#8221; 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 sympatheticand#160;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 historyand#151;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 policyand#151;and when he turned his attention to Bolivia in 1967, the Pentagon made a decision: Che had to be eliminated.
Major Ralph and#147;Pappyand#8221; 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 Cheand#8217;s group and when they would strike were unknowns, and the stakes were high. If Bolivia fell, it would validate Cheand#8217;s theories and throw South America into turmoil.
Hunting Che follows the exploits of Major Shelton, Felix Rodriguez, and Gary Pradoand#151;the Bolivian Ranger commander who ultimately captured him. The story begins with Cheand#8217;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.
INCLUDE PHOTOS
Review
Praise for No Way Out and#160;
and#8220;An adrenaline-fueled narrative that will forever enhance your appreciation of U.S. Special Forces.and#8221;and#8212;Ames Alexander, award-winning investigative reporter with the Charlotte Observer
and#160;
and#8220;A powerful portrait of the men who fought to save each other from certain death.and#8221;and#8212;Michael D. Sallah, investigative reporter for the Miami Herald and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
and#160;
and#8220;A front-row seat to one of the most dangerous and illand#8211;conceived battles of Afghanistan.and#8221;and#8212;Joe Mahr, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter
Review
"This is the real storyand#8212;extremely well toldand#8212;of the unraveling of a guerrilla force and the patient and heroic team work of the men who brought down the iconic myth."and#8212;Enrique Encinosa, author ofand#160;Unvanquished: Cuba's Resistance to Fidel Castro
"Weiss and Maurer have done it again...With memorable characters, rich detail and a fast-moving narrative, they bring us deep into the Bolivian jungle - and into a riveting story you will not want to miss."and#160;and#8212;Ames Alexander, award-winning investigative reporter with theand#160;Charlotte Observer
"Hunting Che provides a powerful portrait of an iconic revolutionary who fell prey to his own ego and passions and a US blacks ops team hellbent on his capture -- and death."and#8212;Michael Sallah, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter forand#160;The Washington Post
and#8220;Veteran journalists Mitch Weiss and Kevin Maurer have tag-teamed on another nail-biterand#8230;They shed light on an importantand#8212;largely misunderstoodand#8212;operation with fairness, objectivity, and candor.and#8221;and#8212;Tom Henry, Toledo-based writer and book reviewer
Synopsis
A critical biography of the iconic communist revolutionary, and an expose of the liberals who lionize him. Nearly four decades after his death, its impossible to avoid the image of Ernesto Che Guevara everywhere from T-shirts to cartoons. Liberals consider Che a revolutionary martyr who gave his life to help the poor of Latin America. Time named him one of the one hundred most influential people of the last century. And a major Hollywood movie is about to lionize him to a new generation.
The reality, as we learn from Cuban exile Humberto Fontova, is that Che wasnt really a gentle soul and a selfless hero. He was a violent Communist who thought nothing of firing a gun into the stomach of a woman six months pregnant whose only crime was that her family opposed him. And he was a hypocrite who lusted after material luxuries while cultivating his image as a man of the people.
Fontova reveals that Che openly talked about his desire to use nuclear weapons against New York City. Such was Ches bloodthirsty hatred that Fontova considers him the godfather of modern terrorism.
Exposing the Real Che Guevara is based on scores of interviews with survivors of Ches atrocities as well as the American CIA agent who interrogated Che just hours before the Bolivian government executed him.
Synopsis
The perfect conservative contrast to the upcoming movie about Che.
Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the mainstream media celebrate Ernesto ?Che? Guevara as a saint, a sex symbol, and a selfless martyr. But their ideas about Che ? whose face adorns countless T-shirts and posters ? are based on the lies of Fidel Castro?s murderous dictatorship.
Che?s hipster fans are classic ?useful idiots,? the name Stalin gave to foolish Westerners who parroted his lies about communism. And their numbers will only increase after a new biopic is released this fall, starring Benicio Del Toro.
But as Humberto Fontova reveals in this myth-shattering book, Che was actually a bloodthirsty executioner, a military bumbler, a coward, and a hypocrite. In fact, Che can be called the godfather of modern terrorism.
Fontova reveals:
? How he longed to destroy New York City with nuclear missiles.
? How he persecuted gays, blacks, and religious people.
? How he loved material wealth and private luxuries, despite his image as an ascetic.
Are Che fans like Angelina Jolie, Jesse Jackson, Carlos Santana, and Johnny Depp too ignorant to realize they?ve been duped? Or too anti-American to care?
About the Author
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 and#147;Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths,and#8221; 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.
and#160;
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.