Free Republic

On This Day In History - October 9, 1967 Professional revolutionary "Che" Guevara is executed in Bolivia Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, better known to the world as "Che" Guevara, is executed by Bolivian armed forces on this day in 1967. Born in Argentina, Guevara was a professional revolutionary who became involved in the Guatemalan revolution of the 1950s. It was during this time that he discovered Marxism and became a fervent convert to the philosophy. Following the overthrow of the Guatemalan government by a U.S.-sponsored coup in 1954, Guevara traveled to Mexico where he joined up with Cuban revolutionary...

In an essay entitled "You will never have Cuba" published by the Cuban Communist Party's newspaper Granma Monday, Castro stated that U.S. efforts to overthrow him and seize power of the country will never materialize. The 80-year-old leader reportedly continues to suffer from ill-health and has not been seen in public since last July. His manifesto, however, was signed Sunday afternoon, and he made clear in his statement that Cuba would not only retain its anti-U.S. stance, but it would also continue to follow the communist model of economic growth. "From one year to the next the standard of living...

June 19, 1953 : Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951, are put to death in the electric chair. The execution marked the dramatic finale of the most controversial espionage case of the Cold War. Julius was arrested in July 1950, and Ethel in August of that same year, on the charge of conspiracy to commit espionage. Specifically, they were accused of heading a spy ring that passed top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs vigorously protested their innocence, but after a...