Chapter 11: Extremist Counter Revolutionary and Maoist Movements

1. Chapter 11:Extremist Counter Revolutionary and Maoist Movements

2. Theory of Urban Terrorism • Rebels, especially in Latin American, equated economic revolution with national revolution. • Gave rise to ideological terrorism. • Practice of modern terrorism gravitated toward one of two models: • Urban terrorism • Guerrilla warfare

3. 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. • Violence created a situation in which revolution could flourish. • Violence created a feeling of panic and frustration among the ruling classes and their protectors. • Violence could be urban-based, controlled by small group of “urban guerillas.”

4. Theory of Urban Terrorism: Marighella • Marighella’s model did not require coordination. • 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. • Terrorists were in control. • Government action would be such as to play into the hand of the terrorists.

5. 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. • Prisoners mistreated and tortured

6. Modeling Urban Revolution: Uruguay’s Tupamaros • Raul Sendic: Waiting for the Guerilla • 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

7. The Urban Philosophy • The Urban Philosophy of Tupamaros: • Small group that represented radical middle-class students. • Operated in Montevideo, which was the nerve center of Uruguay. • They believed that they could better fight within the city. • 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.

8. Modeling Urban Revolution:Uruguay’s Tupamaros • Following Marighella Model: • 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 • Police response relied on old Latin American tactic of torture. • Tupamaros blamed the U.S. for supporting the Uruguayan government. • Tupamaros reached the pinnacle of their power in 1970; success short-lived • Unable to reach the working class

9. Modeling Urban Revolution:Uruguay’s Tupamaros • The Influence of the Tupamaros • 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

10. Modeling Urban Revolution:Uruguay’s Tupamaros • Cold War or Urban Philosophy • 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.

11. Modeling Urban Revolution: Uruguay’s Tupamaros • Why study the Tupamaros? • 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. • Their revolutionary philosophy and the tactics were indicative of their pragmatism. • The urban war was a battle to gain resources and a psychological edge over security forces. • To accomplish these tactics successfully, the Tupamaros were forced to develop specific actions as they became a secret army.

12. Tupamaros Tactics • The grand strategy • Winning support from the middle and working classes • Obtaining power - COYUNTRA • Waiting for critical moment when the political, social, and economic conditions were conducive to revolution. • The coyuntura was to give rise to the salto, or the general strike for power. • Urban terrorism would be replaced by an organized people’s army during the salto. • The coyuntura concept was maintained through terrorist tactics.

13. 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

14. Tupamaros Tactics: Kidnapping • Kidnapping designed to produce logistical support through ransom as well as propaganda value. • Drama in kidnapping • Began kidnapping local officials from Montevideo • Could cause more disruption by taking foreigners • Dan Mitrione, American police advisor • Geoffrey Jackson, British Ambassador to Uruguay

15. Tupamaros: Organizational Characteristics • Executive Committee was in charge • Highly decentralized operation • Main power came from internal rule enforcement • Committee for Revolutionary Justice • Columns major units • Tended to be tactical formations • Real operational power came from cells • Jointed together, on rare occasions, for column-style operations • Combat striking came from four - six person groups in the cells • Masters of urban terrorism

16. Death Squads and Counter Revolutionaries • Death squads protect the established order. • 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: • Death squads develop when movements arise that shift a country’s basic structure of social organization. • Martha Crenshaw: • Revolutionary terrorism as an attempt to seize power from a legitimate state • Revolutionary terrorism as the purpose of creating political and social change

17. FARC, ELN, and Narcoterrorism • FARC • The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia began as a military wing of the Columbian Communist Party. • 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 counter-terrorism activates, but some counter-terrorism forces have been brutal and regions of the country have been disrupted by their activities.

18. The Demise of the Left in Europe • Corrado and Evans: • Left in European terrorism was reduced • Nationalistic terrorism in Europe was declining in the 1980s • 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 • By 1998, the Red Army Faction (RAF) issued a communiqué that it was ceasing operations. • Italy’s Red Brigade continues in existence, but it has little resemblance to the powerful group of the past.

19. The Mujahedin-e Kahlq • The Mujahedin-e Kahlq (MeK) • The MeK, an Iranian group formed in 1965, was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. • MeK, which was designated as a hostile force during the U.S. invasion of Iraq, negotiated a cease-fire with American forces in 2003. • 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.

20. 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. • In 2003, Revolutionary Struggle (EA) emerged. This group continues to be active.

21. Maoist Revolutionary Terrorism • Maoist Revolutionary Terrorism • More violent than other revolutionary groups • Peru’s Shining Path • Abimael Guzman, a philosophy professor, organized the Peruvian group along Maoist lines • Guzman developed a twofold strategy: • Rural guerillas tried to create regional military forces • Combined Mao’s zeal with the guerilla philosophy of Che Guevara

22. Maoist Revolutionary Terrorism • Guzman’s followers engaged in indiscriminate violence against anyone not supporting their call. • The Peruvian government responded with violent counter-revolutionary measures including secret courts. • While fighting came to an end in 2000, the Shining Path is reported to have reorganized itself as a drug trafficking organization by 2007.

23. The New Peoples’ Army • The New Peoples’ Army • The longest running communist insurgency in the world • Its current membership of 7,000 is a substantial reduction from its height of 25,000 in the 1980s. • In pursuing the NPA, counter-terrorist measures have included the use of extrajudicial execution. • The Armed Forces of The Philippines have dehumanizedthe NPA, creating a blood feud.

24. The Maoist Rebellion in Nepal • The Maoist Rebellion in Nepal • 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 • initiated by King Gyanendra in 2001 • included summary executions, torture and abductions • The government and the Maoists signed a peace agreement in 2006.

25. Naxalites of India • Naxalites of India • The Naxalites first emerged in the 1960s, but went into decline. • They re-emerged in the 1990s in a variety of smaller movements seeking agrarian reform and the end of the de facto caste system. • Brutal counter-terrorism methods have resulted in almost half the states of India becoming involved in a dirty war.

26. Radicals and Religion in Japan • Radicals and Religion in Japan • Aum Shinrikyo attacked the Tokyo subway system in 1995 using Sarin gas. • 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.

27. 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 • Its central principles are • mobilization • launching attacks from rural areas • Guevara, based on the Cuban experience, typified by three progressive phases • Isolated groups • Isolated groups merge into guerrilla columns • Columns brought together in a conventional army • Goal is to develop a conventional fighting force

28. Debray: Expanding Guerrilla Warfare • Debray’s prime target was the U.S. • U.S. dominates Latin America through economic imperialism • U.S. responsible for maintaining inequitable class structure • North American wealth caused Latin American poverty. • Debray views terrorism as having no payoff. • Neutral at best • Alienating at worst • Revolutions only work when guerilla warfare is initially employed.