Gary Prado Salmon, the Bolivian General who captured Communist revolutionary Che Guevara in a military operation died on Sunday. He was aged 84.
Gary's son, Gary Prado Arauz posted on Facebook, “The Lord just called into His Kingdom my father. He was accompanied by his wife and children. He leaves us a legacy of love, honesty and grace. He was an extraordinary person. Thank you to everyone who supported us in this time of agony.”
In 1967, Salmon was in charge of a patrol in southwestern Bolivia that captured Che Guevara who was injured during the military operation. The operation against the communist rebels was backed by the United States. Che was captured on October 8, 1967, and was executed a day later. The Bolivian Parliament, which was then under military regime declared Salmon a national hero.
Since 1981 Gen Prado had been a wheelchair user, after a bullet fired accidentally hit him in the spine, BBC reported. He retired from the army in 1988 and authored a book about his 1967 triumph, called 'How I Captured Che'.
The BBC quoted Salmon's son Arauz as saying, “For him, capturing Che was not the most important thing he did in his life - rather, it was to contribute to making the armed forces a democratic institution that would respect the constitution and laws.”
