ERP Flag

The Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP) was the military branch of the communist PRT (Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, or Workers' Revolutionary Party) in Argentina. The name means "People's Revolutionary Army". Image File history File links ERP Flag File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, PRT or Workers Revolutionary Party is a Trotskyist orientatied political party of Argentina, mainly active in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

Origins

A red star, the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo symbol

The ERP was founded as the armed wing of the PRT, a communist party emerging from the Trotskyist tradition. During the 1960s, the PRT aligned itself with the communist state of Fidel Castro in Cuba and adopted the foquista strategy of insurgency associated with Che Guevara, an Argentine associate of Castro. Image File history File links ERP.png‎ Estrella roja de cinco puntas con las siglas E.R.P. Emblema del Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo. ... Image File history File links ERP.png‎ Estrella roja de cinco puntas con las siglas E.R.P. Emblema del Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo. ... Red star on the Soviet flag The five-pointed red star (a pentagram without the inner pentagon) is a symbol of Communism and Socialism and represents the five fingers of the workers hand, as well as five of six inhabited continents. ... In modern usage, the term communist party is generally used to identify any political party which has adopted communist ideology. ... Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... This article is about a form of government in which the state operates under the control of a Communist Party. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ... The foco theory of communist revolution by way of guerrilla warfare, also known as focalism (Spanish language: foquismo), was developed by Ernesto Che Guevara, based upon his experiences surrounding Fidel Castros 1959 victory in the Cuban Revolution. ... An insurgency, or insurrection, is an armed uprising, or revolt against an established civil or political authority. ... Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara or El Che, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. ...

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 a communist revolution against the Argentine government, whether civilian or military, in pursuit of "proletarian rule." Guerrilla War redirects here. ... Year 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Urban guerrilla refers to someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare in an urban environment. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Enrique Gorriarán Merlo Enrique Haroldo Gorriarán Merlo (18 October 1941 – 22 September 2006) was an Argentine revolutionary and guerrilla leader, born in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Buenos Aires Province. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... It has been suggested that Proletarian revolution be merged into this article or section. ... The dictatorship of the proletariat is a term employed by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program that refers to a transition period between capitalist and communist society in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The term refers to a...

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). Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) (Movement of the Revolutionary Left) is a Chilean political party. ... Tupamaros, also known as the MLN (Movimiento de Liberación Nacional or National Liberation Army), was an urban guerrilla organization in Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s. ... The National Liberation Army (Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Nacional) was a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organization that operated in Bolivia during the 1960s and 1970s. ... The Revolutionary Coordinating Junta or JCR (Junta Coordinadora Revolucionaria) was an alliance, formed in the mid 1970s, of communist parties in the Southern Cone region of South America that all waged urban guerrilla warfare. ...

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. Juan Domingo Perón (October 8, 1895 – July 1, 1974) was an Argentine soldier and politician, elected three times as President of Argentina and serving from 1946 to 1955 and from 1973 to 1974. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

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. While the leadership of the movement was mostly eradicated, many of the ERP soldiers and sympathizers were taken into custody as political prisoners. Official logo of Montoneros The Movimiento Peronista Montonero was an Argentinian radical leftist nationalist-catholic guerrilla group, active during the 1970s. ... María Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón (born on February 4, 1931), better known as Isabel Martínez de Perón, was President of Argentina from 1974 to 1976 and the third wife of Argentine President Juan Perón. ... Counter-insurgency is the combating of insurgency, by the government (or allies) of the territory in which the insurgency takes place. ... February is the second month of the calendar year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... In military science, the term commando can refer to an individual, a military unit or a raiding style of military operation. ... State terrorism is a controversial term that is separate from the more common term state sponsored terrorism. ... This article especially refers to the Argentine dirty war; however, the term has been used in other contexts, for example in Turkey; see also lead years Dirty War (in Spanish: ) refers to a program of a state-sponsored illegal repression on domestic citizens in response to strikes, social unrest, violence... July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Look up September in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

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] May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The Argentine armed forces moved ahead with the Dirty War, dispensing with the civilian government through a coup d'etat in March, 1976. 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 dictatorship 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. This article especially refers to the Argentine dirty war; however, the term has been used in other contexts, for example in Turkey; see also lead years Dirty War (in Spanish: ) refers to a program of a state-sponsored illegal repression on domestic citizens in response to strikes, social unrest, violence... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... General Augusto Pinochet (sitting) as head of the newly established military junta in Chile, September 1973. ... State terrorism is a controversial term that is separate from the more common term state sponsored terrorism. ...

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. Since the early 20th century, Radical Left has been used as an umbrella term to describe those on the political left who adhere explicitly and openly to revolutionary socialism, communism, or anarchism. ... Look up cadre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Sandinista! is also the name of a popular music album by The Clash. ... Assassin and Targeted killing redirect here. ... Anastasio (Tachito) Somoza Debayle (December 5, 1925 – September 17, 1980) was officially the forty-fourth and forty-fifth President of Nicaragua from May 1, 1967 to May 1, 1972 and from December 1, 1972 to July 17, 1979. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January is the first month of the year and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Theater This page is about the ancient city Side on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Dirty War
• History of Argentina

This article especially refers to the Argentine dirty war; however, the term has been used in other contexts, for example in Turkey; see also lead years Dirty War (in Spanish: ) refers to a program of a state-sponsored illegal repression on domestic citizens in response to strikes, social unrest, violence... This article is about the history of Argentina. ...

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).