trial to determine whether we shoot them in the head immediately or get some guy who simultaneously doesn't know what he's doing and knows exactly what he's doing to intentionally botch the hangings

I think it rather punctuated Guevara's argument, not that I think it would do the same for some freak proclaiming that he is dying for the Volk.

execution by firing squad is reserved for elites and officers. these ones were hung t emphasize of their low, degraded situation. the ones who were sentenced to death, anyway. which wasn't all of them. within a few years, most of them were free.