Read Online Latin America Diaries by Ernesto «Che» Guevara - Free Book Online Page A

Helena de Holst, 37 who is close to the communists on many things and strikes me as a very good person. In the evening I had a chat with Mujica 38 and Hilda, and a certain little adventure with a plumpish schoolteacher. From now on, I’ll try to keep a daily journal, and familiarize myself more with the political situation here in Guatemala.
    A Sunday without novelty, until the evening when I was asked to attend to one of the Cubans who was complaining of severe abdominal pain. 39 I called an ambulance and we waited in the hospital until 2 a.m., when the doctor decided it was necessary to wait before operating. We left him under observation.
    Earlier, at a party in Myrna Torres’s home, I met a girl who was showing some interest in me and talked about the possibility of some work for 40 quetzals. 40 We’ll see.
    Another day without trouble or glory. There’s a prospect of 10quetzals (we’d get 25 commission) and accommodation. We’ll see. The Cuban 41 was going to look into this in his department.
    One more day without trouble or glory. A refrain that seems to be alarmingly repetitious. Gualo vanished all day, to do nothing, and I seized the chance to do nothing as well. In the evening I went to visit the college where I may get work. […]
    No new developments. I spoke to the Bolivian ambassador, a good man and more than that in terms of his politics. In the evening we went to the opening of the second congress of the CGTG, 42 a confused affair apart from the speech of the FSM [World Federation of Trade Unions] delegate, a great speaker.
    Another day gone… Evidence has now been published that the plot people were speaking about really did exist. We have the possibility of an order but it will be necessary to present a program like respectable people. I am a representative for leather and illuminated hoardings—no job. Lots of mate .
    A new day without trouble or glory. There’s nothing expected from [Jaime] Díaz Rozzoto. 43 I went out with a girl who seems promising. […] Anita [Torriello] asked us to pay for the boarding house and Hilda can’t give us more than $10. We owe $60 or more. Tomorrow is Sunday, so we should not despair.
    Two more days with no change to our routine. I have asthma again, but it seems I’ll be able to beat it. Gualo is off to Mexico with Fatty Rojo to stay for a month. I have a letter for the director of the IGSS, 44 Alfonso Solórzano, we’ll see what happens. If nothing crystallizes, one of these days I’ll pack my bags and emigrate to Mexico as well. I have written a grandiloquent article titled, “TheDilemma of Guatemala,” 45 not for publication, just for my own pleasure […].
    The asthma is getting worse all the time. I have started drinking mate and stopped eating corncakes, but it keeps getting worse. Tomorrow I think I’ll pull out a tooth and see if that isn’t the root of the problem. I’ll also see if I can finally solve the currency problem.
    More days to add to my diary notes. Days full of inner life and nothing else. A collection of all kinds of disasters and the never changing spiral of hopes. There is no doubt about it, I’m an optimistic fatalist […].
    I’ve had asthma these days, the last few confined to my room hardly going out at all, although yesterday (Sunday) we went with the Venezuelans and Nicanor Mujica to Amatitlán. There we got into a heavy argument, all of them against me, except for Fatty Rojo who said I don’t have the moral ability to engage in a debate. Today I went to see about the possibility of work as a doctor: 80 a month, for one hour’s work a day. In the IGSS they told me with utmost certainty that there are no positions. [Alfonso] Solórzano was friendly and to the point. Now the day can come to an end with the old full stop. We’ll see.
    But we’ve seen nothing. As I was in no state to move, I sent Gualo to take them my qualifications,