People's Revolutionary Army (Argentina): Difference between revisions
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
===Operations in Tucumán=== |
===Operations in Tucumán=== |
||
After the return of [[Juan Perón]] to the presidency in 1973, the ERP shifted to a rural strategy designed to secure a large land area as a base of military operations against the Argentine state. The ERP leadership chose to send ''Compania del Monte Ramón Rosa Jimenez'' to the province of Tucumán at the edge of the long-impoverished Andean highlands in the northwest corner of Argentina. By December 1974, the guerrillas numbered about 100 fighters, with a 400 person support network. Led by [[Mario Roberto Santucho]], they soon established control over a third of the province and organized a base of some 2,500 sympathizers. |
After the return of [[Juan Perón]] to the presidency in 1973, the ERP shifted to a rural strategy designed to secure a large land area as a base of military operations against the Argentine state. The ERP leadership chose to send ''Compania del Monte Ramón Rosa Jimenez'' to the province of Tucumán at the edge of the long-impoverished Andean highlands in the northwest corner of Argentina. Some guerrilleros were trained in Cuba. By December 1974, the guerrillas numbered about 100 fighters, with a 400 person support network. Led by [[Mario Roberto Santucho]], they soon established control over a third of the province and organized a base of some 2,500 sympathizers. Even then, the ERP was not very popular in the rest of the country, because of the communist profile. Communism was attacked several times by General Perón, the most popular political leader in those years. |
||
The growth in ERP strength in the northwest, together with in increasing urban violence carried out by the left-Peronist [[Montoneros]] following Perón's death in 1974, led the government of [[Isabel de Perón]] to expand the military's powers to fight a [[counter-insurgency]] campaign in February 1975. General Acdel Vilas immediately began ''Operacion Independencia'', deploying over 3,000 soldiers, including conscripts from the Fifth Infantry Brigade and two companies of elite commandos. |
The growth in ERP strength in the northwest, together with in increasing urban violence carried out by the left-Peronist [[Montoneros]] following Perón's death in 1974, led the government of [[Isabel de Perón]] to expand the military's powers to fight a [[counter-insurgency]] campaign in February 1975. General Acdel Vilas immediately began ''Operacion Independencia'', deploying over 3,000 soldiers, including conscripts from the Fifth Infantry Brigade and two companies of elite commandos. While fighting the guerrilla in the jungle, Vilas concentrated on uprooting the ERP support network in the towns, using [[state terror]] tactics later adopted nation-wide during the "[[Dirty War]]", as well as a civic action campaign. By July, the commandos were mounting search-and-destroy missions in the mountains. Army forces discovered Santucho's base camp in August, then raided the ERP urban headquarters in September. Most of the ''Compania del Monte's'' general staff was killed in October and was dispersed by the end of the year. |
||
In May 1975 ERP representative Amilcar Santucho was captured trying to cross into Paraguay to promote the JCR unity effort. He provided information that enabled Argentine security agencies to disrupt the ERP. The case |
In May 1975 ERP representative Amilcar Santucho was captured trying to cross into Paraguay to promote the JCR unity effort. He provided information that enabled Argentine security agencies to disrupt the ERP. The case contributed to greater security cooperation among South American regimes that came to be known as "[[Operation Condor]]," [http://www.fathom.com/feature/35164/] |
||
The Argentine armed forces moved ahead with the [[Dirty War]], dispensing with the civilian government in a March 1976 coup. The ERP's commander, [[Mario Roberto Santucho]], was killed in July of that year.[http://www.prt.5u.com/MRSantucho_PRT.htm]. Although the ERP continued under the leadership of Enrique Gorriarán Merlo, by late 1977, it had been eradicated as a military force. By that time, the military regime had expanded its own campaign against "subversives" to include [[state terror]] against non-violent students, intellectuals, and political activists who were presumed to form the social base of the insurgents. |
The Argentine armed forces moved ahead with the [[Dirty War]], dispensing with the civilian government in a March 1976 coup. The ERP's commander, [[Mario Roberto Santucho]], was killed in July of that year.[http://www.prt.5u.com/MRSantucho_PRT.htm]. Although the ERP continued under the leadership of Enrique Gorriarán Merlo, by late 1977, it had been eradicated as a military force. By that time, the military regime had expanded its own campaign against "subversives" to include [[state terror]] against non-violent students, intellectuals, and political activists who were presumed to form the social base of the insurgents. |
||
The PRT continued political activities, although limited to few members, organizing conventions even after democracy returned to the country. |
|||
===Aftermath=== |
===Aftermath=== |
||
Revision as of 21:55, 5 April 2006
The Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP) was the military branch of the PRT (Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, or Workers' Revolutionary Party) in Argentina. The name translates as "People's Revolutionary Army".
Origins
The ERP was founded as the armed wing of the PRT, a communist group emerging from the Trotskyist tradition. During the 1960s, the PRT aligned itself with the revolutionary government of Fidel Castro in Cuba and adopted the foquista insurgency strategy associated with Ché Guevara, an Argentine associate of Castro.
The ERP launched its armed struggle against the Argentine military regime in 1969, using targeted urban guerrilla tactics, such as assassinations and kidnappings of government officials and foreign company executives. For example, in 1974 Enrique Gorriarán Merlo and Benito Urteaga led the ERP kidnapping of Esso executive Víctor Samuelsson and obtaining a ransom of $12 million. The group continued the violent campaign even after elections and the return to civilian rule in 1973. The avowed aim of the ERP was the replacement of the Argentine government, whether civilian or military, with a revolutionary socialist proletariat dictatorship.
The ERP-PRT joined with the Chilean Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR), the Tupamaros of Uruguay, and the National Liberation Army of Bolivia to form the Junta Coordinadora Revolucionaria (JCR).
Operations in Tucumán
After the return of Juan Perón to the presidency in 1973, the ERP shifted to a rural strategy designed to secure a large land area as a base of military operations against the Argentine state. The ERP leadership chose to send Compania del Monte Ramón Rosa Jimenez to the province of Tucumán at the edge of the long-impoverished Andean highlands in the northwest corner of Argentina. Some guerrilleros were trained in Cuba. By December 1974, the guerrillas numbered about 100 fighters, with a 400 person support network. Led by Mario Roberto Santucho, they soon established control over a third of the province and organized a base of some 2,500 sympathizers. Even then, the ERP was not very popular in the rest of the country, because of the communist profile. Communism was attacked several times by General Perón, the most popular political leader in those years.
The growth in ERP strength in the northwest, together with in increasing urban violence carried out by the left-Peronist Montoneros following Perón's death in 1974, led the government of Isabel de Perón to expand the military's powers to fight a counter-insurgency campaign in February 1975. General Acdel Vilas immediately began Operacion Independencia, deploying over 3,000 soldiers, including conscripts from the Fifth Infantry Brigade and two companies of elite commandos. While fighting the guerrilla in the jungle, Vilas concentrated on uprooting the ERP support network in the towns, using state terror tactics later adopted nation-wide during the "Dirty War", as well as a civic action campaign. By July, the commandos were mounting search-and-destroy missions in the mountains. Army forces discovered Santucho's base camp in August, then raided the ERP urban headquarters in September. Most of the Compania del Monte's general staff was killed in October and was dispersed by the end of the year.
In May 1975 ERP representative Amilcar Santucho was captured trying to cross into Paraguay to promote the JCR unity effort. He provided information that enabled Argentine security agencies to disrupt the ERP. The case contributed to greater security cooperation among South American regimes that came to be known as "Operation Condor," [1]
The Argentine armed forces moved ahead with the Dirty War, dispensing with the civilian government in a March 1976 coup. The ERP's commander, Mario Roberto Santucho, was killed in July of that year.[2]. Although the ERP continued under the leadership of Enrique Gorriarán Merlo, by late 1977, it had been eradicated as a military force. By that time, the military regime had expanded its own campaign against "subversives" to include state terror against non-violent students, intellectuals, and political activists who were presumed to form the social base of the insurgents. The PRT continued political activities, although limited to few members, organizing conventions even after democracy returned to the country.
Aftermath
After the destruction of the radical left in Argentina, some cadres made their way to Nicaragua, where the Sandinistas had taken power in 1979. Gorriarán, for example, worked for the Nicaraguan security service and was implicated in the assassination of ex-dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1980. Gorriarán returned to Argentina in 1987 to became a leader of the Movimiento Todos por la Patria (All For the Country Movement or MTP). Citing the danger of another military coup, the MTP sought to renew the revolutionary armed struggle by attacking La Tablada barracks in January 1989. Gorriarán was arrested in 1995 for his role in the attack and sentenced to life in prison in 1997.
See also
References
- Guerrillas and Generals: The Dirty War in Argentina, by Paul H. Lewis (2001).
- Nosotros Los Santuchos, by Blanca Rina Santucho (1997, in Spanish).
- Argentina`s Lost Patrol : Armed Struggle, 1969-1979, by Maria Moyano (1995).
- Argentina, 1943-1987: The National Revolution and Resistance, by Donald C. Hodges (1988).