October 9, 1967

Mario Terán was the Bolivian Army sergeant who executed revolutionary Che Guevara as a young man on October 9, 1967. He had drawn a short straw after arguments over who would kill Guevara broke out among the soldiers. In 2006, Terán was treated for cataracts by Cuban physicians in the Cuba-Venezuela Operación Milagro (Operation Miracle) program, which restored his sight. This was first revealed when Terán's son wrote a letter to the Santa Cruz de la Sierra newspaper El Deber thanking the Cuban doctors. In 2007 it gained wider attention when Granma (the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba) reported the treatment, opining that "Four decades after Mario Terán attempted to destroy a dream and an idea, Che returns to win yet another battle...Now an old man, he [Terán] can once again appreciate the colors of the sky and the forest, enjoy the smiles of his grandchildren and watch football games."