LA PAZ; STREET SCENE; POLICEMAN WALKING THROUGH DOOR WHERE PEREDO DIED; BULLET HOLES IN DOOR; BODY IN COFFIN; DEAD MAN'S PISTOL.




Initials GL/VS/MJB/ES



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Background: IN LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, A LIEUTENANT OF CUBAN GUERILLA LEADER CHE GUEVARA WAS KILLED IN A STREET BATTLE WHEN POLICE RAIDED A HOUSE ON TUESDAY (9 SEPTEMBER). BOLIVIAN INTERIOR MINISTER EUFRONIA PADILLA SAID GUIDO "INTI" PEREDO DIED WHEN A GRENADE HE WAS ABOUT TO THROW EXPLODED IN HIS HAND. HIS BODY WAS LATER SHOWN TO NEWSMEN AND PHOTOGRAPHERS.

PEREDO, A LIFE-LONG COMMUNIST, WAS A KEY FIGURE IN THE SEVEN-MONTH GUERILLA CAMPAIGN LED BY THE GUEVARA IN 1967. HE WAS GUEVARA'S TOP BOLIVIAN ADVISER, THE REBELS' TREASURER, AND TOOK AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT MILITARY ROLE AFTER HIS BROTHER COCO'S DEATH EARLY IN THE CAMPAIGN.

PEREDO WAS ONE OF ONLY TWO BOLIVIANS WHO SURVIVED AND ESCAPED THE AMBUSH IN OCTOBER 1967 THAT LED TO THE CAPTURE AND DEATH OF GUEVARA. THREE CUBANS ALSO SURVIVED AND LEFT THE COUNTRY, BUT PEREDO REMAINED, AND RUMOUR CONNECTED HIM WITH THE RECENT WAVE OF URBAN GUERILLA ACTIVITY IN THE COUNTRY.

COLONEL PADILLA SAID PEREDO AND THREE OTHER NEW OPENED FIRE ON POLICE AS THEY BROKE INTO A HOUSE FOLLOWING A TIP-OFF THAT MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT, WERE HIDING IN CENTRAL LA PAZ. TWO OF THE OTHER MEN, INCLUDING A CUBAN JOURNALIST, WERE INJURED, HE SAID.