Monumento Ernesto Che Guevara

Looming over this wide hilltop Plaza de la Revolución on the west side of the city, at the west end of Rafael Tristá, the monument comprises a massive bronze statue of Che bearing his rifle. Beneath the monument, on the north side, is the excellent Museo de Che (tel. 0422/20-5878; Tues.–Sat. 8 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m.–5 p.m.; free), which worships the Argentinian revolutionary and has a detailed account of the capture of Santa Clara in December 1958. Che Guevara’s history is traced from childhood, with many photos from his youthful journey through Latin America. Exhibits include his pistol from the Sierra Maestra, letters to and from Fidel, his green PVC jacket with brown corduroy elasticized sides, and his black beret with the five-pointed star made memorable by the photo by Alberto “Korda” Díaz Gutiérrez. Surveillance cameras watch your every move. No cameras or bags (not even fanny packs) are allowed.

Che’s remains (recently discovered in Bolivia) were laid to rest here in October 1997 in an adjacent mausoleum that has empty space for the 37 other guerrillas who lost their lives in Guevara’s last campaign. The mausoleum has walls of granite inset with the 3-D motifs of the revolutionaries, including Che’s, with a small five-point star illumined top-right from a light beam inset in the ceiling. Che actually inspires indifference among ordinary Cubans and there is an eerie absence of Cuban pilgrims to this vast Stalinist shrine with, wrote Mark Ottaway, “its edgy staff and enough manouevering space outside for a regiment of tanks.”