Congo Diary: The Story of Che Guevara s "Lost" Year in Africa (Centro de Estudios Che Guevara)

Featuring a foreword by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Che Guevara in Africa"), this book fills in the missing chapter in Che Guevara s life as head of the secret Cuban force that went to aid the liberation movement in the Congo against the Belgian colonialists in 1965. The idea was to prepare a group of Cubans for the mission to Bolivia, as well as to assist African national liberation movements.

This diary remained unpublished for decades because of its controversial content, but, like his other diaries, reveals Che s great literary gift, his razor-sharp intellect, his dry wit, and his brutal honesty. Because this diary deals with what Che admits was a "failure," he examines every painful detail about what went wrong in order to draw constructive lessons for future expeditions.

This publication of the complete Congo Diary has been thoroughly revised by Che s widow, Aleida March, and published in association with the Che Guevara Studies Center in Havana.

Features:

• Forewords by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Che Guevara in Africa") and Che s daughter, Aleida Guevara
• Twenty-eight pages of unpublished photos
• Extensive notes and glossary explaining Swahili terms
• Backcover blurbs by Nelson Mandela and Gabriel Garcia Marquez