Jonathan R. White
www.cengage.com/cj/white
Chapter 11:
Extremist Counter Revolutionary
and Maoist Movements
Rosemary Arway
Hodges University
Theory of Urban Terrorism
 Rebels, especially in Latin American,
equated economic revolution with
national revolution.
o Gave rise to ideological terrorism.
 Practice of modern terrorism gravitated
toward one of two models:
o Urban terrorism
o Guerrilla warfare
Theory of Urban Terrorism: Marighella
 Marighella’s works have influenced
revolutionary terrorism more than any
other set of theories.
 Marighella believed the basis of
revolution was violence.
o Violence created a situation in which
revolution could flourish.
o Violence created a feeling of panic and
frustration among the ruling classes and
their protectors.
o Violence could be urban-based, controlled
by small group of “urban guerillas.”
Theory of Urban Terrorism: Marighella
 Marighella’s model did not require
coordination.
o Urban terrorism begins with two phases:
 Bring about actual violence
 Give the violence meaning
 Terrorism in urban setting could be used
to destabilize government power.
 Psychological assault would convince
the government and the people that
status quo no longer held.
o Terrorists were in control.
o Government action would be such as to
play into the hand of the terrorists.
Modeling Urban Revolution:
Uruguay’s Tupamaros
 In the early 1960s, a group of
revolutionaries called the Tupamaros, who
epitomized urban terrorism, surfaced in
Uruguay.
 Peace and prosperity of Uruguay after
WWII began to fade.
 By 1959 economic dissatisfaction grew.
 In 1962 Union workers clashed with police
resulting in their arrest.
o Prisoners mistreated and tortured
Modeling Urban Revolution:
Uruguay’s Tupamaros
 Raul Sendic: Waiting for the Guerilla
o Sendic:
 He joined union workers and was arrested.
 He described the repression he saw in prison in an
article titled “Waiting for the Guerrilla,” in which he
called for revolt in Montevideo.
 After his release from jail, several young radicals
gravitated toward him.
 In 1963, he organized raid on the Swiss Hunting
Club outside Montevideo.
 first step in arming the group
 first step in revolution
The Urban Philosophy
 The Urban Philosophy of Tupamaros:
o Small group that represented radical middle-class
students.
o Operated in Montevideo, which was the nerve center
of Uruguay.
 They believed that they could better fight within
the city.
o In 1963, the group adopted its official name, the
National Liberation Movement (MLN).
 Developed a revolutionary ideology and a
structure for violent revolt.
 Searched for a name that would identify them
with the people.
Modeling Urban Revolution:
Uruguay’s Tupamaros
 Following Marighella Model:
o 1968 – Tupamaros launched a massive
campaign of decentralized terrorism, following
the recent guidelines of Carlos Marighella.
 Paralyzed the government in Montevideo
 Kidnapped high ranking officials of the Uruguayan
government as well as foreign diplomats
o Police response relied on old Latin American
tactic of torture.
o Tupamaros blamed the U.S. for supporting the
Uruguayan government.
o Tupamaros reached the pinnacle of their power
in 1970; success short-lived
 Unable to reach the working class
Modeling Urban Revolution:
Uruguay’s Tupamaros
 The Influence of the Tupamaros
o Tupamaros’ revolutionary terrorism copied
around the world
 embodied the Marighella philosophy of
revolution
 initiate an urban campaign without much
thought to structure, strategy, or
organization
 served to justify repressionist terrorism
Modeling Urban Revolution:
Uruguay’s Tupamaros
 Cold War or Urban Philosophy
o Terrorism analysts believe that:
 Car bombs and other new terrorist
strategies have signaled a new type of
terrorism.
 All types of domestic and international
groups are following new organizational
patterns.
 The rules the West learned during the
Cold War are no longer applicable.
Modeling Urban Revolution:
Uruguay’s Tupamaros
 Why study the Tupamaros?
o The fact that the Tupamaros created an urban
movement is important in terms of the group’s
impact on violence in Latin America, but it also has
a bearing on the way terrorist methods have
developed in Europe and the United States.
o Their revolutionary philosophy and the tactics were
indicative of their pragmatism.
o The urban war was a battle to gain resources and a
psychological edge over security forces.
o To accomplish these tactics successfully, the
Tupamaros were forced to develop specific actions
as they became a secret army.
Tupamaros Tactics
 The grand strategy
o Winning support from the middle and working
classes
 Obtaining power - COYUNTRA
o Waiting for critical moment when the political,
social, and economic conditions were
conducive to revolution.
o The coyuntura was to give rise to the salto, or
the general strike for power.
o Urban terrorism would be replaced by an
organized people’s army during the salto.
o The coyuntura concept was maintained
through terrorist tactics.
Tupamaros Tactics: Bank Robbery
 Bank robbery fell under the Marighella
category of “expropriation”
 Purpose was to finance terrorist
organization
 Primary tactic of waging urban guerrilla
war
 Banks seen as symbolic and logistical
targets
 Robberies upset Uruguayan society
Tupamaros Tactics: Kidnapping
 Kidnapping designed to produce
logistical support through ransom as well
as propaganda value.
o Drama in kidnapping
 Began kidnapping local officials from
Montevideo
o Could cause more disruption by taking
foreigners
 Dan Mitrione, American police advisor
 Geoffrey Jackson, British Ambassador to
Uruguay
Tupamaros:
Organizational Characteristics
 Executive Committee was in charge
o Highly decentralized operation
 Main power came from internal rule
enforcement
o Committee for Revolutionary Justice
 Columns major units
o Tended to be tactical formations
 Real operational power came from cells
o Jointed together, on rare occasions, for columnstyle operations
o Combat striking came from four - six person groups
in the cells
 Masters of urban terrorism
Death Squads
and Counter Revolutionaries
 Death squads protect the established order.
o
o
Elimination of opposition when the government is
unable or unwilling to do so.
Associated with right wing activities, but used across the
political spectrum.
 Julie Mazzei:
o
Death squads develop when movements arise that shift
a country’s basic structure of social organization.
 Martha Crenshaw:
o
o
Revolutionary terrorism as an attempt to seize power
from a legitimate state
Revolutionary terrorism as the purpose of creating
political and social change
FARC, ELN, and Narcoterrorism
 FARC
o The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia
began as a military wing of the Columbian
Communist Party.
o Branched into the drug trade.
 One of the objectives of Plan Columbia, a U.S.
– Columbian joint effort – is to move against
FARC.
 FARC has been weakened by counterterrorism activates, but some counter-terrorism
forces have been brutal and regions of the
country have been disrupted by their activities.
The Demise of the Left in Europe
 Corrado and Evans:
o Left in European terrorism was reduced
o Nationalistic terrorism in Europe was declining
in the 1980s
o Some groups attempted to form a coalition in the
late 1980s but this was a sign of weakness
rather than strength.
 The demise of the Left in Europe
o By 1998, the Red Army Faction (RAF) issued a
communiqué that it was ceasing operations.
o Italy’s Red Brigade continues in existence, but it
has little resemblance to the powerful group of
the past.
The Mujahedin-e Kahlq
 The Mujahedin-e Kahlq (MeK)
o The MeK, an Iranian group formed in 1965,
was designated as a terrorist organization by
the United States.
o MeK, which was designated as a hostile force
during the U.S. invasion of Iraq, negotiated a
cease-fire with American forces in 2003.
o MeK members in Iraq received the status of
protected persons in 2004.
 Although the group remains on the U.S. list of
terrorist organizations, it is trying to at least
present a front indicating that it has amended its
terrorist past.
Revolutionary Struggle in Greece
 Between 1975 and 2000 no less that 250
terrorist groups operated in Greece.
 N17 was the most notorious.
 Following a failed bombing attempt in 2002,
Greek police succeeded in arresting key
members of the group.
o In 2003, Revolutionary Struggle (EA)
emerged. This group continues to be
active.
Maoist Revolutionary Terrorism
 Maoist Revolutionary Terrorism
o More violent than other revolutionary groups
 Peru’s Shining Path
o Abimael Guzman, a philosophy professor,
organized the Peruvian group along Maoist
lines
o Guzman developed a twofold strategy:
 Rural guerillas tried to create regional military
forces
 Combined Mao’s zeal with the guerilla
philosophy of Che Guevara
Maoist Revolutionary Terrorism
o Guzman’s followers engaged in indiscriminate
violence against anyone not supporting their
call.
o The Peruvian government responded with
violent counter-revolutionary measures
including secret courts.
o While fighting came to an end in 2000, the
Shining Path is reported to have reorganized
itself as a drug trafficking organization by 2007.
The New Peoples’ Army
 The New Peoples’ Army
o The longest running communist insurgency in
the world
o Its current membership of 7,000 is a substantial
reduction from its height of 25,000 in the
1980s.
o In pursuing the NPA, counter-terrorist
measures have included the use of extrajudicial
execution.
o The Armed Forces of The Philippines have
dehumanized the NPA, creating a blood feud.
The Maoist Rebellion in Nepal
 The Maoist Rebellion in Nepal
o
o
o
o
Maoist rebels in Nepal sought an end to the monarchy.
The king dissolved the parliament in 1995, following
Communist victories in the elections.
Maoist rebels created a state of fear among government
supporters.
They engaged in a ten year campaign of terror in which
more than 12,000 persons were killed.
 Counter-terrorism activities
o
o
initiated by King Gyanendra in 2001
included summary executions, torture and abductions
 The government and the Maoists signed a peace
agreement in 2006.
Naxalites of India
 Naxalites of India
o The Naxalites first emerged in the 1960s,
but went into decline.
o They re-emerged in the 1990s in a variety
of smaller movements seeking agrarian
reform and the end of the de facto caste
system.
o Brutal counter-terrorism methods have
resulted in almost half the states of India
becoming involved in a dirty war.
Radicals and Religion in Japan
 Radicals and Religion in Japan
o Aum Shinrikyo attacked the Tokyo subway
system in 1995 using Sarin gas.
o The Japanese Red Army, despite its name,
has been more active in Lebanon and in
other countries than in Japan. It tried to take
too many different directions to remain
viable in the 21st century.
Guerrilla Warfare: Guevara
 Guevara’s Revolutionary War enjoyed mass
distribution in the U.S. in the late 1960s
 Che Guevara developed the foco theory of
revolution in his another book Guerrilla Warfare
o
Its central principles are


mobilization
launching attacks from rural areas
 Guevara, based on the Cuban experience, typified
by three progressive phases
o
o
o
o
Isolated groups
Isolated groups merge into guerrilla columns
Columns brought together in a conventional army
Goal is to develop a conventional fighting force
Debray: Expanding Guerrilla Warfare
 Debray’s prime target was the U.S.
o U.S. dominates Latin America through economic
imperialism
o U.S. responsible for maintaining inequitable class
structure
 North American wealth caused Latin American
poverty.
 Debray views terrorism as having no payoff.
o Neutral at best
o Alienating at worst
 Revolutions only work when guerilla warfare is
initially employed.