Bronze statue of "Che" Guevara unveiled in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, June 14 (Xinhua) -- A bronze statue of legendary guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara was unveiled on Saturday in Argentina to commemorate his 80th birthday.

The towering statue, which weighs 2.7 tons and is 4 meters high, was unveiled in the eastern coastal city of Rosario where Guevara was born exactly 80 years ago.

This is the first such monument for Guevara in his home country.

Guevara's daughter, Aleida Guevara, arrived in Rosario on Saturday to attend the dedication of the statue.

Born in 1928 in Argentina, Guevara was one of Cuban leader Fidel Castro's most important commanders during Cuba's 1959 revolution. Later he gave up his high position in Cuba to become a guerrilla fighter in Bolivia. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency helped launch a Bolivian military operation in 1967 in which Guevara was captured and executed.