Activity Tupamaros

the tupamaro movement named after revolutionary túpac amaru ii, in 1780 led major indigenous revolt against viceroyalty of peru. origins lie in union between movimiento de apoyo al campesino (peasant support movement), members of trade unions founded sendic in poverty-stricken rural zones, , radicalized cells of socialist party of uruguay.

the movement began staging robbing of banks, gun clubs , other businesses in 1960s, distributing stolen food , money among poor in montevideo. took slogan, words divide us; action unites us.

at beginning, abstained armed actions , violence, acting not guerrilla group political movement. in june 1968, president jorge pacheco, trying suppress labour unrest, enforced state of emergency , repealed constitutional safeguards. government imprisoned political dissidents, used torture during interrogations, , brutally repressed demonstrations. tupamaro movement engaged in political kidnappings, armed propaganda , assassinations. of particular note kidnapping of powerful bank manager ulysses pereira reverbel (es) , of british ambassador uruguay, geoffrey jackson, assassination of dan mitrione, u.s. fbi agent tupamaros learned advising uruguayan police in torture , other security work.

the tupamaros peaked insurgent force in 1970 , 1971. during period made liberal use of cárcel del pueblo (or people s prison) held kidnapped , interrogated them, before making results of these interviews public. number of these hostages later ransomed considerable sums of money, including brazilian consul in montevideo, aloysio dias gomide (pt). in september 1971 on 100 imprisoned tupamaros escaped punta carretas prison digging hole across cells , tunnel led floor of 1 ground-level cell living room of nearby home. result of this, government summoned military prepare counter-insurgency campaign suppress mln.

nonetheless, in 1972 group crippled series of events. first, had started engage in political violence since 1970, choice weakened popular support. second, group responded assassination and/or disappearance of 4 tupamaros on part of illegal parapolice squads wave of high-profile assassinations concentrated political opposition against them. later on, mln directly attacked military , killed number of soldiers. army s response swift; included heavy use of torture , flipping of high-ranking tupamaros, including héctor amodio pérez, towards collaborating them.

the tupamaros collapsed in mid-1972, army killing many of them , capturing majority of rest. shortly after defeating mln military successively confronted independence of judiciary in october 1972, of civilian executive branch in february 1973, , lastly independence of parliament in june 1973. on latter occasion completed coup d état deploying armored vehicles in capital , shutting down legislative branch request of uruguayan president. 9 tupamaros chosen remain in squalid conditions, including sendic, fernández huidobro, josé mujica, henry engler, , mauricio rosencof. remained there until restoration of liberal democracy in uruguay in 1985. during intervening years military regime killed , disappeared additional numbers of people, focusing particularly on communist party of uruguay.