terminology Tupamaros

The Tupamaros were the band of guerrillas that staged a successful, but short-lived coup in Uruguay in the late sixties. Until the 1990s, with the advent of Peru’s terrorist group “Tupac Amaru,” and the recording star Tupac Amaru Shakur, the Tupamaros were the most prominent people to name themselves after the Inca Chief Tupac Amaru, who fought the Spaniards. Traditionally stationed in the countryside, the Tupamaros took to the cities and temporarily paralyzed Uruguay’s urban capital city Montevideo. News of their success inspired leftists worldwide, who didn’t realize that the small-level success of the Urban Guerrilla concept in a South American country would not necessarily translate into success with the concept in Europe.

Members of the West Berlin’s Kommune I formed a low-level urban guerrilla group called “Tupamaros West Berlin” during the late sixties. Later the group disbanded, and the core members founded the Movement 2 June. Another low-level urban guerrilla group called “Tupamaros Munich” was also formed during the late sixties, but also disbanded without causing much harm.