Tupamaros

For other uses, seeTupamaros (disambiguation).

Tupamaros – National Liberation Movement Movimiento de Liberación Nacional – Tupamaros
Tupamaros – National Liberation Movement Flag
Leader	Raúl Sendic Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro Héctor Amodio Pérez Henry Engler Mauricio Rosencof
Dates of operation	1967–1972
Active regions	Uruguay
Ideology	Communism Marxism-Leninism Guevarism Foco theory Left-wing nationalism Revolutionary socialism
Political position	Far-left
Status	Defunct
Allies	Cuba MIR
Opponents	Government of Uruguay

TheNational Liberation Movement – Tupamaros(Spanish:Movimiento de Liberación Nacional – Tupamaros,MLN-T) was aMarxist-Leninisturban guerrillagroup inUruguayin the 1960s and 1970s. In 1989 it joined theMovement of Popular Participation(MPP), which was admitted to theBroad Front.

The MLN-T is inextricably linked to its most important leader,Raúl Sendic,and his brand of social politics.José Mujica,who later became President of Uruguay, was also a member. 300 Tupamaros died either in action or in prisons (mostly in 1972), according to officials of the group. About 3,000 Tupamaros were also imprisoned.

Origins of the Tupamaros

For most of the 1900s, Uruguay was one of the most flourishing nations in Latin America. PresidentJosé Batlle y Ordóñezraised Uruguay's living standard to nearly match that of European industrialized nations by creating a complex social welfare system, after the civil war that preceded his presidency. During both world wars, Uruguay was considered the "Switzerland of the Americas" as it made the majority of its profits through exporting agricultural goods. After World War II,food pricesdecreased in Europe and Asia, causing exports from Uruguay to decrease and resulting in lower wages for unionized workers, fewer social services, and increased national tension. The Tupamaros formed in this time of instability, as a youthful group of students and professionals. They attracted trade union members, students, and people of poor socioeconomic status from rural areas.

Activity

The Tupamaro movement was named after the revolutionaryTúpac Amaru II,who in 1780 led a major indigenous revolt against theViceroyalty of Peru.Its origins lie in the union between theMovimiento de Apoyo al Campesino(Peasant Support Movement), members oftrade unionsfounded by Sendic in poverty-stricken rural zones, and radicalized cells of theSocialist Party of Uruguay.

The movement began by staging the robbing of banks, gun clubs and other businesses in the early 1960s, then distributing stolen food and money among the poor inMontevideo.It took as its slogan, "Words divide us; action unites us."

Later on as the Tupamaros grew, they helped develop the 'Frente Amplio' political coalition, serving as the counterpart to their underground organization. The Frente Amplio combined leftist and centre-left views.

At the beginning, it abstained from armed actions and violence, acting not as a guerrilla group but a political movement.In June 1968, PresidentJorge Pacheco,trying to suppress labour unrest, enforced a state of emergency and repealed all constitutional safeguards. The government imprisoned political dissidents, usedtortureduring interrogations, and brutally repressed demonstrations.In 1969 theyconducted the largest robbery in Uruguayan historyandoccupied the city of Pando.The Tupamaro movement engaged then in political kidnappings, "armed propaganda" and assassinations. Of particular note are the kidnapping of powerful bank managerUlysses Pereira Reverbeland of the British ambassador to Uruguay,Geoffrey Jackson,as well as the assassination ofDan Mitrione,a U.S.FBIagent that was also working for the CIA (via the Agency for International Development's Office of Public Safety), who the Tupamaros learned was advising the Uruguayan police in torture and other security work.

The Tupamaros peaked as a guerrilla group in 1970 and 1971. During this period they made liberal use of theirCárcel del Pueblo(or People's Prison) where they held those that they kidnapped and interrogated them, before making the results of these interviews public. A number of these hostages were later ransomed for considerable sums of money, including the Brazilian Consul in Montevideo,Aloysio Dias Gomide.In September 1971 over 100 imprisoned Tupamaros escaped the Punta Carretas prison by digging a hole across their cells and then a tunnel that led from the floor of one ground-level cell to the living room of a nearby home. As a result of this, the government summoned the military to prepare acounter-insurgencycampaign to suppress the MLN.

End

See also:1973 Uruguayan coup d'étatandCivic-military dictatorship of Uruguay

Nonetheless, in 1972 the group was quickly crippled by a series of events. First, it had started to engage inpolitical violencesince 1970, a choice that weakened its popular support. Second, the group responded to the assassination and/or disappearance of four Tupamaros on the part of illegalparapolicesquads with a wave of high-profile assassinations that concentrated political opposition against them. Later on, the MLN directly attacked the military and killed a number of soldiers. The army's response was swift; it included the heavy use of torture and the flipping of high-ranking Tupamaros, includingHéctor Amodio Pérez,towards collaborating with them.

The Tupamaros collapsed in mid-1972, with the army killing many of them and capturing a majority of the rest. Shortly after defeating the MLN the military successively confronted the independence of the judiciary in October 1972, of the civilian executive branch in February 1973, and lastly the independence of the parliament in June 1973. On this latter occasion, it completed its coup d'état by deploying armored vehicles in the capital and shutting down the legislative branch by request of the Uruguayan President. Nine Tupamaros were specially chosen to remain in squalid conditions, including Sendic,Fernández Huidobro,José Mujica,Henry Engler,andMauricio Rosencof.They remained there until the restoration of liberal democracy in Uruguay in 1985. During the intervening years, the military regime killed and "disappeared" additional numbers of people, focusing particularly on theCommunist Party of Uruguay.

In 1984, a set of several 24-hourUruguayan general strikes,eventually forced the military to accept civilian rule, with democratic elections held that year.Under Julio María Sanguinetti, the new president, amnesty was granted to the Tupamaros. The Tupamaros were released from prison after over a decade and they joined in representing the Frente Amplio coalition party. In 2004, Tabaré Vásquez was the first to become president on the "Frente Amplio" ticket.The ceramicist and former member,Eva Díaz Torres,returned to Uruguay during this period.

List of attacks

• 8 October 1969 –taking of Pando.
• 31 July 1970 – kidnapping of U.S. government official,Dan Mitrione,who trained Uruguayan police in the use of torture. He was murdered on 10 August.
• 31 July 1970 – kidnapping of the Brazilian consul Aloysio Dias Gomide, released on 21 February 1971 for ransom ($250,000).
• 7 August 1970 – the kidnapping of U.S. agronomist Dr. Claude Fly, released on 2 March 1971 after a health crisis following a heart attack inside the People's Prison.
• 29 September 1970 – bombing of the Carrasco Bowling Club, gravely injuring the elderly caretaker Hilaria Ibarra(rescued from the rubble byGustavo Zerbinowho would later be a survivor ofthe Andes disaster).
• 8 January 1971 – the kidnapping of the British ambassadorGeoffrey Jackson.
• 21 December 1971 – killing of rural laborer Pascasio Báez bysodium pentothalinjection.
• 18 May 1972 – fourUruguayan Armysoldiers killed by machine gun fire while watching over the house of the commander-in-chief of the Army, General Florencio Gravina.
• 14 April 1972 - several members of the paramilitaryDeath Squads (Uruguay)were killed, after the abduction of a member of the group revealed its existence and government involvement.

Notable members

• The Uruguayan "nine hostages" kept under arrest between 1972 and 1985:
  • Raúl Sendic– Founder and leader of the group. Famous for his self-effacing, timid nature.
  • Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro– Became a prominent politician beginning in the mid-1990s. Ministry of National Defense in 2011 until his death. On August 5, 2016, he died in office at the age of 74.
  • José Mujica– President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 and leader of theMovement of Popular Participation.
  • Mauricio Rosencof– Became a prominent writer and playwright after leaving prison. Director of Culture of theIntendancy of Montevideoin 2005.
  • Henry Engler– Left for Sweden post-prison and became a prominent medical researcher.
  • Adolfo Wasem – Died of cancer before liberation.
  • Jorge Zabalza– The youngest of the "nine hostages". Famous in Uruguay for his continued radical militancy well into his later years, as well as his criticism of his fellow ex-Tupamaros. Died on February 23, 2022.
  • Julio Marenales
  • Jorge Manera
• Héctor Amodio Pérez– The only prominent and founding member of the Tupamaros who organized the escape from Punta Carretas prison. He fled to Spain in 1973 and only resurfaced in the public eye in 2013.
• Lucía Topolansky– First female vice-president of Uruguay from 2017 to 2020, afterRaúl Sendic (son)stepped down. MarriedJosé Mujicain 2005, after decades of living together.

See also

• 1973 Uruguayan general strike
• Juventud Uruguaya de Pie
• Movement of Popular Participation
• Taking of Pando

External links

• Tupamaros (Official Site)
• Attacks attributed to the Tupamaros on the START database
• The Tupamaros of Uruguay
• Tupamaros Tunnel Out.Time1971.