BY NED DMYTRYSHYN
Following is an interview with Cuban brigadier general Harry Villegas (Pombo) conducted by Cuban journalist Elsa Blaquier Ascaño. It was originally published in the June 12, 1995, issue of Trabajadores, the weekly newspaper of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers. The interview appeared under the title, "Memories of Che, Harry Villegas Tamayo, an internationalist in the Congo, Bolivia, and Angola." The translation from Spanish and subheadings are by the Militant.
BY ELSA BLAQUIER ASCAÑO
HAVANA, Cuba - I still remember him as extremely thin, with an almost beardless face and fine features that contrasted with the darkness of his skin, all of which gave him an appearance even younger than his 25 years. It took a real effort to see in him the battle-tested veteran of the guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra, the western invasion, the taking of Santa Clara, and the internationalist aid to the Congo.
Then, without a moment's rest, he again undertook an important mission together with the man who had taken him in as a 17-year-old soldier and to whom he was united with ties that not even death could break: Che.
In those days of May 1965, together with José María Martínez Tamayo (Papi) and Carlos Coello (Tuma), he prepared the logistical and organizational foundations for what was to become the Bolivian guerrilla movement.
Today a brigadier general, Harry Villegas Tamayo has since added new pages to his record as an internationalist and as a military leader, which earn him the right to wear on his chest the gold star of Hero of the Republic of Cuba, which the Council of State recently awarded him.
Harry continues being Pombo, whom the Cuban people met through Che's Bolivian Diary; the one who amazed the world with the feat of commanding the small group that was able to elude their encirclement by the CIA after the death of the Heroic Guerrilla.
His modesty has caused him to avoid interviews other than those where he speaks of his unforgettable leader and teacher. Today, however, he was unable to escape the siege and we made him remember his childhood in Yara, at the entrance to the eastern mountains, when his father Andrés, a carpenter of Cuban descent, taught him justice and humanity, and his mother Engracia, a housewife with a great gift for commerce, inculcated in him a sense for business.
He was born near the Sierra Maestra on May 10, 1940, and was influenced by the traditions of the area. Near there is the tamarind tree where it is said that Hatuey was burned at the stake, and near the spot where Céspedes freed his slaves and issued the first call for Cuba's independence.(1) He was like all the young boys there, a good baseball player and an enthusiastic swimmer in the nearby river.
"I was the tenth and youngest child; I was able to study because my mother had come by some money from two stores and a bakery that she had in Yara and Palma. My father, on the other hand, had nothing; he was very generous and used to give everything away.
"When the struggle in the Sierra Maestra began, I was studying business in Manzanillo. That event had a deep impact on me, and I immediately joined the underground movement. After several jailings inside the rural guard's garrison, I decided to join the rebels, although my mother was opposed because she felt I was too skinny and couldn't take it."
Meets Che for the first time
Pombo first joined a group of men in the Cauto valley
armed with hunting rifles. Later he made contact with
Chino Figueredo's troops, and was with them when Che
arrived. He remembers the great impression made on him
that day by this guerrilla fighter, who was already a
symbol.
"He asked what we were doing there, who had sent us. We said we were there to fight for Cuba's freedom and that it had been our own decision. He then told us to go down to the plains and disarm some soldiers so that each of us could return with a weapon."
Although the undertaking turned out to be difficult, they did not return empty-handed. Che allowed them to stay more for the determination they had shown than for the arms they had captured.
"I began as a messenger, later I went with him to the school at Minas del Frío, where I had to accustom myself to constant bombing by Batista's planes, which had become a trial-by-fire for the rebel troops."
There he received the first demonstration of his leader's high standards of discipline. "The food here was not the worst, but there wasn't much. A comrade named Lorente began a hunger strike and I was among the leaders.
"When Che arrived he accused us of sedition and threatened to shoot whoever was responsible. I was punished with three days without eating; the others were ordered to stand at attention all day, in spite of the air attacks.
"Luckily Fidel came and spoke to him, and he then softened the punishment. Che knew that discipline was a decisive factor for a guerrilla unit's survival. Moreover, it began with the harsh discipline he imposed on himself. He struggled with us as if we were his children, trying to educate and train us in every sense, and to criticize and punish us when necessary."
To turn back the offensive of the tyranny was Pombo's first great combat mission, together with Leonardo Tamayo, Pablo Ribalta, and Hermes Peña - the same individuals who later became the Heroic Guerrilla's bodyguard. "We were selected to participate in the battle of El Jigue and later in the encirclement to prevent Batista's army from reaching the command post at La Plata.
"The majority of us were just kids: San Luis [Eliseo Reyes-"Rolando"], Joel Iglesias, Tamayo, Hermes Peña, Carlos Coello. The platoon of Che's command post, where I was assigned, was a school; we studied mathematics, Spanish, tactics, guerrilla warfare; we read novels and history books. I wasn't among those who progressed the most, so Che used to tell me that I was an intellectual who had graduated from `Yara University.' He liked to surround himself with youth and force us to improve ourselves."
The battles of Cuatro Compañeros and La Federal, occurring on the plains during the historic march toward Villa Clara, are etched in his memory. So too are Che's efforts to unite the revolutionary forces that operated in the Escambray, among them the Second Front, which opposed having the July 26 Movement operate there.
"The Las Villas campaign can be considered as a lightning operation; in it Che graduated as a strategist and consolidated his abilities as a military leader," Pombo says, adding, "He went against the laws of warfare that call for numerical superiority before launching an attack.
"He calculated that surprise was a psychological factor that weakened the 3,000 soldiers defending Santa Clara, while we numbered about 600. Che had a daring recklessness, but he wouldn't just give his life away. In that battle he proved very audacious. He was the first to enter the city, accompanied only by Aleida [March], Parra, and me. As we advanced, people came out and said: `Here comes Che with some women!' because we had long hair.
"Havana scared me. When we arrived at La Cabaña I looked at it from atop the statue of Christ and I didn't dare go out until the day Che arrived and asked me if I, the head of his personal escort, intended to go around doing nothing. That's how I found out about my assignment, I got in the car with him and finally left."
As a member of the escort, Pombo lived for many years together with Che and his family, until starting a family of his own. He was given the responsibility of attending the school of administration, of directing several enterprises, later returning to the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
"By then I had a son, Harry Andrés, and had carried out several military and political responsibilities. For some time I had not seen Che because he was traveling and I was serving in the tank unit of Managua, until one day they came to look for me. I spent several days together with Carlos Coello on a farm in Cubanacán, and Tuma said to me, jokingly, "So much eating without working will lead to no good."
Mission: nothing would happen to Che
"Fidel sent for us and said that Che had selected us to
go with him, that he was already in Africa responding to a
request for help from the revolutionary movement after the
death of [Patrice] Lumumba, and he assigned us to help Che
and guarantee that nothing happened to him. It was a proof
of trust, which moved us deeply.
"That's how we ended up in Cairo after passing through several countries, and from there to Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. Upon arriving we joined up with the group that was preparing to enter Congo (Leopoldville), now Zaire. Che, Papi, and Víctor Dreke were already in the Congo; about three days after arriving at the camp we left. Pablo Ribalta, who was ambassador to Tanzania, explained the situation to us. We crossed the country in an area of natural reserve parks and arrived at Lake Tanganyika; it was impressive, with its 35,000 square kilometers of fresh water, where the wind stirred up enormous waves.
"We crossed in a canoe, on the other side we found a hut and a Cuban doctor (Kumy), who gave me a backpack that weighed about 75 pounds. I had not trained like the other comrades, so when I began to climb that mountain more than 1,700 meters high with that weight on my back, I had to ask for help. Then Tuma said to me: `I told you, so much eating without working will surely lead to no good.'
"Che made me head of services and assigned me to the same cabin he was living in. Chino, one of his bodyguards, was there too, as was a Congolese guerrilla named Ernesto, who spoke French and taught Che Swahili. As one could imagine, I had to join in the classes."
"The Congo was a great experience for everyone. It was very difficult to understand the psychology of the African commanders, most of whom were not there. We were waiting for an African leader until Che decided to begin fighting the Belgian and South African mercenaries. It turned out to be a complex affair to understand the people there, who were living under a mixture of social stages, from the familial relations of the primitive community to more modern displays such as walking around with small portable radios or big wrist watches.
Struggle in the Congo
"We fought important battles, like the one at Force
Bandera where we lost Vinajera, Pío, Ballester, Warner
Moro, and 14 Rwandans. We attacked and took the posts at
Mwenga and Kovimvira, conducted several ambushes along the
road to the lake, and led a surprise attack on the river
port. We really fought, and with effectiveness, but the
whole question of the leadership on the part of the
Congolese created instability.
"At one point Che thought about going to the other end of the country to look for other groups that were fighting, but that would have involved a march of thousands of kilometers. When this was being considered the meeting of African heads of state at Addis Ababa took place, where they decided to alter the character of the assistance being given to the revolutionary movement in the Congo, allowing only armed cooperation with the independence movements of the Portuguese colonies - which was also within Che's conception of the struggle.
"The contribution that he was making there was really a pause before going to South America, and in particular Argentina. But he did not want to leave there without having the request for our departure put in writing, to keep Cuba's prestige unblemished. It was also painful to leave behind the more than 3,000 African fighters who were accompanying us.
"From a human standpoint, that situation was very difficult for Che, and I know it was very hard for him to accept abandoning the struggle. Che spoke with them and asked them to choose 20 fighters to return with us to Cuba - it couldn't be more, because the boats could only carry the 100 or so Cubans who found ourselves there."
Out of that feat Harry kept the nickname of Pombo, part of the pseudonym his commander had given him: Pombo Pojo, which in the native tongue means green nectar. His eyes betray the happiness he felt when the unforgettable guerrilla met with Papi, Tuma, and him to ask if they would be willing to follow him to another part of the world.
"We immediately said yes. When we arrived at Dar es Salaam we left the other Cubans, traveled in pairs to Prague, where we remained for a long time preparing for the new mission, until Fidel convinced him to return to Cuba.
From Africa to South America
"Papi was already in La Paz, making contact with the
leadership of the Bolivian Communist Party; Tuma and I
also went. We were charged with providing cover to Papi in
all the organizational arrangements; then we were in Cuba
for a few days.
"In July 1966 we departed for Bolivia, passing through many countries on the way. We planned out the arrival of all the comrades, looked for and bought the farm, discussed with Mario Monje having the [Bolivian Communist] Party join the struggle.(2) We did this until November 3, when Che arrived.
The confidence that Pombo's commander placed in him can be seen on every page of his diary written in Bolivian territory; Pombo was once again named head of services and was included on the general staff. There are countless references to Pombo being chosen to lead a scouting party or to evaluate where to set up camp.
On June 26, 1967, Che writes: "A black day for me. . . . We received word of two wounded: Pombo in the leg and Tuma in the stomach. . . . Pombo's wound is superficial . . . Tuma . . . died during the operation. With his death I have lost an inseparable comrade and companion over all the recent years. His loyalty was unwavering, and I feel his absence almost as if he were my own son."(3)
Harry remembers the day he was wounded while trying to help his comrade of many battles and adventures. He recalls the events of October 8 with an equal measure of pain.
"We were close to the crest of the hill. Che knew the army was there and organized the defense. He ordered Tamayo (Urbano) and me to fight along the lower part of the ravine. Our mission was to hold our position if the attack came from that direction so people could regroup and retreat, especially the sick, to a previously designated place.
"A moment before the firing began, Che sent the Bolivians Ñato and Aniceto to relieve us. Then the bullets began flying over us, we began to repel the attack, and we sent them to find out whether or not we were to leave. On their way back to our positions Aniceto was mortally wounded. N'ato told us that Che had already withdrawn.
"We tried to withdraw but the enemy fire did not allow it. Around 1:30 the shots began to grow more distant. It was evident they wanted to circle around to prevent Che and the sick who were with him from escaping.
"When we were able to withdraw we went to the point where his command post had been, and we found he had taken the most valuable items; this indicated he was alive and was withdrawing to the agreed-upon location.
"We began climbing; when we were almost there they whistled, telling us not to move because we were surrounded. It was Dariel Alarcón (Benigno), Guido Peredo (Inti), and David Adriazola (Darío); we hit the ground and fell back to the ravine once again. About 6:00 p.m. the soldiers arrived again, threatening to lob grenades at us, but didn't. Later we regrouped. All night long the army harassed us.
"At dawn on October 9 we were hiding very close to the small schoolhouse at La Higuera. We saw the soldiers, observed the helicopters, but never imagined they were holding Che there. In the morning we heard the first news of his capture but reports were very confused, saying he was wounded, then saying he was not and that it was one of his officers. Finally they began to give details about his clothing and personal effects, and we knew it was true.
"It was a big blow, something terrible. We then decided to keep on fighting, that for us the war was not over, that we would fight together and nobody would be left behind. Inti, who was the political leader of the guerrilla unit, remained as such, and I assumed command of the group."
Then came the search for the sick, in whose defense Che had offered his precious life; the impossibility of finding them; breaking through one encirclement after another, which turned the march to the Chilean border into a feat truly fit for a novel, from which they came out alive thanks to the help of the revolutionary movement and the efforts of Salvador Allende, then a senator, who accompanied them back to the island.
In Angola until the end
After arriving in Cuba he returned to the ranks of the
armed forces as chief of operations of the Eastern Army,
and participated in Operation Mambí, dedicated to
preparing land for cultivation, but he never abandoned
hope of helping the revolutionaries renew their struggle
in Bolivia. The death of Inti in Cochabamba frustrated his
plans.
The artillery corps would employ him as political leader; the "Máximo Gómez" Academy of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) would have him as one of its pupils; the Border Brigade at Guantánamo as its first commander. Then came the request for assistance from the revolutionary movement for the liberation of Angola.
He went back and forth so many times it is impossible to give an accurate count. His long service record includes exploratory missions, operations against bandits in Cuando Cubango, the battles of Cangamba and Cuito Cuanavale. That is how his life was spent from 1981 to 1990, during which he remained permanently in that country of Africa's southern cone until the total withdrawal of the Cuban internationalist troops.
He speaks nostalgically of the small amount of time he has been able to devote to his family and to his children: Harry Andrés, now 32 years old; Gabil Ernesto, 21; Pombo Alejandro, who has turned 13; and Yara Celia, the lovely eight-year-old.
He has just celebrated his 55th birthday and Brigadier General Harry Villegas Tamayo, now head of the political section of the Western Army, has built up a history that is hard to equal. Nevertheless, he declares that he does not feel himself to be a hero. "I believe I have done the normal thing for a revolutionary. I always try to act with the loyalty and selfless dedication to humanity that Fidel and Che taught me since adolescence."
He is not old, he says. For him the struggle has not ended and he will continue defending the immense accomplishments of the revolution.
"To those who think the revolution was not worth it, I say that if they could see how much respect we have around the world, if they could feel what I have felt when I visit another country to talk about Che, they would see that the world acknowledges that glory, which belongs to the entire Cuban people."
1. Hatuey, a Taino Indian chief, led an uprising against the Spaniards; he was captured and executed in 1511. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (1819-1874) was a principal leader of Cuba's first war of independence from Spain, launched in 1868.
2. Mario Monje was general secretary of the Communist Party of Bolivia.
3. Ernesto Che Guevara, Bolivian Diary, Pathfinder Press, pp. 218-19.