Julia Cortes
Julia Cortes was one of the last people to see Che Guevara alive. At the time she was a 19-year-old trainee teacher, working in the village of La Higuera. Che, who had come to Bolivia to start a revolution, was imprisoned by CIA-backed Bolivian troops in her ramshackle schoolhouse. She was sent to fetch him food, and on her return the two chatted. When she came back the next morning with breakfast, the troops had put a bullet through his heart.
For more than 30 years Julia has guarded her memories of Che, shying away from publicity. Now retired, she still lives in La Higuera, in a sleepy corner of Bolivia's eastern lowlands well away from the backpacker circuit.