Last modified: 2008-05-31 by francisco gregoric
Keywords: ejército revolucionario del pueblo | erp | e.r.p. | partido revolucionario de los trabajadores | prt | p.r.t. | people’s revolutionary army | workers’ revolutionary party | star: 5 points (red) |
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Important editor note: It must be noted that all the opinions are of the authors and not of FOTW. Our site is non-political and concentrates only on vexillological issues.
![[ERP flag]](../images/a/ar}erp1.gif)
The Ejercito Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP) [People’s Revolutionary Army] was one
of the two biggest Marxist guerrilla organizations
acting in Argentina in the 1970s.
It was formed as the military wing of the Partido
Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT) in the V
Congress of that party, made in 1970 during the times
of the de facto military government of General Juan
Carlos Onganía.
The main goal of this guerrilla group was to establish
a communist government and State in Argentina.
It originally started as a Trotskyist group affiliated
to the 4th International (Trotskyist). However it also
has influences of several communist wings like
Maoists. Its main model was the movement of Fidel
Castro in Cuba and the group defined itself as
Guevarist for Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The group
officially left Trotskyism in 1973.
The PRT initially started its armed actions in 1968
but the ERP would not officially be founded and named
until 1970.
The ERP preformed several urban guerrilla armed
actions, first against the de facto dictatorships of
Generals Onganía, Levingston and Lanusse in early
1970s.
However the group did not stop its violent actions
when Democracy was restored in Argentina in 1973. Even
though the de facto government ended, the ERP
continued its campaign of attacks, kidnappings,
killings, bombings, attacks to military garrisons and
propaganda.
Carlos Sánchez, 23 Oct 2007
The ERP
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) in August 1973.
Esteban Rivera, 17 Mar 2007
In 1975 the group tried to establish a rural front in
some areas of the Province of Tucumán. The
constitutional government of María Estela Martínez de
Perón (General Perón’s widow) ordered the military to
attack the ERP in Tucumán. This action was known as
"Independence Operative" by the government. The
military attacked the ERP really hard with some
excesses under the instructions of the President of
"to neutralize and/or to annihilate the actions of the
subversives". This action marked the beginning of the
end for the power of the ERP.
In December 1975 the group tried to occupy a military
garrison in Monte Chingolo near the City of Buenos
Aires in order to steal weapons and explosives.
However an Army Intelligence agent disguised as a
group member advised the government before the action
was made, and the group was ambushed by the military.
The ERP had several members killed in Monte Chingolo.
This moment marked the end of the ERP as a military
capable organization. After that, just counted attacks
or bombings could be preformed by the group.
When the military deposed the constitutional
government in the coup of March 24, 1976 the ERP was
already fatally wounded. A hard repression was
preformed by the de facto dictatorship government to
the ERP remains. Several members of the group were
killed. Its leader Mario Roberto Santucho was killed
while planning to leave the country in 1976, and the
group was almost extinct by late 1977.
Some of the members that left the country went to
Nicaragua where they became members of the Sandinism
(like Enrique Gorriarán Merlo the last leader of the
ERP after Santucho’s death).
Carlos Sánchez, 23 Oct 2007
In the V Congress of the PRT of 1970 it was decided
that a "people’s revolutionary army" would be founded
and that it would have its own flag.
The flag of the ERP was defined as the flag of the
Andes Army with the red star of Socialism at center
instead of the coat of arms of the original flag,
because the group thought of itself as the
continuation of General San Martín struggle (according
their own point of view).
The red star usually had the acronym of the group ERP
inside. Other times the acronym appeared outside or
both inside and outside.
Several variants of the flag were used in different
places, being the horizontal stripes flag the most
common one. Vertical stripes flags were used sometimes also.
Apparently the ERP flag was first raised and seen in a
police station taken by the group in the City of
Rosario in September 1970.
Soon after that the flag appeared again in a big union
strike made in Córdoba in March 1971 known as the
"viborazo".
The flag was used and raised every time a public
building was taken by the group, as a propaganda tool.
When the group tried to establish a "rural front" in
the province of Tucumán in 1975 they took two ERP
flags with them.
The flag also appeared as a drawing in stickers and
documents of the group as can be seen in the letters
sent by Argentine Army Major Argentino del Valle
Larrabure to his family while he was kidnapped by the
ERP (He was later killed by the group).
After the end of the ERP and the return of Democracy
in 1983, the ERP flag has been re-used by some far
left very small political groups. They usually just
change the acronym in the flag or add something to it.
In meetings of the PRT the ERP flag is still raised
and shown, and recently in 2006 when Enrique Gorriarán
Merlo died, the ERP flag appeared over his coffin.
Carlos Sánchez, 23 Oct 2007
![[ERP flag variant]](../images/a/ar}erp2.gif)
Vertical stripes flags were used sometimes also.
Carlos Sánchez, 23 Oct 2007
![[ERP flag variant]](../images/a/ar}erp3.gif)
Other times the acronym appeared outside
Carlos Sánchez, 23 Oct 2007
![[PRT flag]](../images/a/ar}prt.gif)
The Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT) [Workers’ Revolutionary Party]
was the political wing party of the ERP. It was
originally founded in 1965 as a Trotskyist party
member of the 4th International (Trotskyist) during
the times of the constitutional president Dr. Arturo
Umberto Illia.
The party made its first armed attacks in 1968 during
the de facto government of General Juan Carlos Onganía
(he had deposed Illia in 1966). In 1970 during its V
Congress the party founded the ERP.
However the party continued to exist as the political
wing of the organization, performing political
activities.
Even though the party was originally Trotskyist, it
also claimed back other communist wings like
Guevarism, Maoism, pro-Ho Chi Minh, etc. But the PRT
usually was critic of the former U.S.S.R.
In 1973 both the PRT and the ERP left the 4th
International and Trotskyism.
Although the ERP was defeated by 1977, the PRT
continued to exist until today as a very small
political party.
Both the political party wing (PRT) and the armed wing
(ERP) have had several splits across the time.
Carlos Sánchez, 23 Oct 2007
The flag of the PRT is a red flag that has a yellow
star in the canton with the acronym of the group
bellow. It looks something similar to the flags of
People’s Republic of China or Vietnam.
Carlos Sánchez, 23 Oct 2007
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Important editor note: It must be noted that all the opinions are of the authors and not of FOTW. Our site is non-political and concentrates only on vexillological issues.
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