Enrique Haroldo Gorriarán Merlo (18 October 1941 – 22 September 2006) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

leader, born in

San Nicolás de los Arroyos San Nicolás de los Arroyos (usually shortened to ''San Nicolás'') is a city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the western shore of the Paraná River, from Rosario. It has about 133,000 ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

. His family was affiliated with the

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union (, UCR) is a major political party in Argentina. It has reached the national government on ten occasions, making it one of the most historically important parties in the country. Ideologically, the party has stood for r ...

, but at the age of 27 Gorriarán Merlo joined the

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

Workers Revolutionary Party (PRT), and then cofounded its armed wing, the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP). He continued to be a leader of the PRT and the ERP through to the beginning of the Argentine

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

, spanning the governments of

Héctor José Cámpora Héctor José Cámpora (26 March 190918 December 1980) was an Argentine politician. A major figure of left-wing Peronism, Cámpora was briefly Argentine president from 25 May to 13 July 1973 and subsequently arranged for Juan Perón to run for ...

(1973),

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...

, and

Isabel Perón Isabel Martínez de Perón (, born María Estela Martínez Cartas; 4 February 1931) is an Argentine politician who served as the 41st president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was one of the List of elected and appointed female heads of s ...

, the last of which was cut short by the coup that started the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process ( PRN; often simply , "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the ("last military junta"), ("last military dictatorship") ...

(1976). Prior to joining the insurgency around 1970, he lived in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, 70 km north from his birthplace, and worked for two years in the Swift meat packing plant. In an interview he alleged that insurgent organizations gained thousands of recruits in the area at the time. There, Gorriarán Merlo led the first armed attack by ERP, the capture of Police Station No. 24, in 1971. Soon afterwards, he was captured and imprisoned in

Rawson, Chubut Rawson (; ) is the capital of the Argentine province of Chubut, in Patagonia. It has 24,616 inhabitants in 2010, and it is the chief town of the Rawson Department. The city is named after Guillermo Rawson (1821–1890), Argentine Minister of ...

. He was part of the group of militants that organized the prison break that occurred during the night of 15 August 1972. Only six out of 110 were able to make a successful escape by hijacking a commercial flight; 19 were recaptured and 16 were executed (see

Trelew massacre The Trelew Massacre was a mass execution of 16 political prisoners, militants of different Peronist and leftist organizations, in Rawson prison by the military dictatorship of Argentina. The prisoners were recaptured after an escape attempt and s ...

). The successful ones, Gorriarán Merlo among them, fled to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, at that time under the Socialist administration of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

, and from there were granted safe passage to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. He returned to Argentina a few months later. In January 1974, he took part in the assault on the army barracks in

Azul Azul, meaning "blue" in Spanish and Portuguese, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Azul'' (Los Piojos album), 1998 * ''Azul'' (Cristian Castro album), 2001 ** "Azul" (song), the title song * Azul Azul, a Bolivian pop-dance music group * " ...

, where a Lieutenant Colonel, his wife and a conscript were killed. After the fall of Isabel Perón in March 1976, the largely defeated ERP fled the country in order to reorganize itself. Gorriarán Merlo moved to

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

to collaborate with the

Sandinistas The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

, and in 1980 he was involved in the assassination of the deposed Nicaraguan President,

Anastasio Somoza Debayle Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 53rd President of Nicaragua from 1967 to 1972 and again from 1974 to 1979. As head of the National Guard (Nicaragu ...

, who was living in exile in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, Paraguay. In the last years of his life he was prohibited entry into Nicaragua, but enjoyed the support and friendship of the Sandinista leader

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...

. In 1985, Gorriarán Merlo founded the Movimiento Todos por la Patria (MTP). He returned to Argentina in 1987. The MTP organized the 1989 attack on La Tablada Regiment, where 39 people were killed, among them several conscript soldiers and police officers. Gorriarán Merlo was arrested in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 1995. He was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

in 1996 and spent eight years in the Devoto prison. While in prison he wrote a memoir of his militant years, which was published in January 2003. Along with other former guerrilla leaders, he was

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ed in May 2003 by President

Eduardo Duhalde Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentina, Argentine former peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President of Argentina, Vice President ...

. In November 2003 he went to

and met the son of Stanley Sylvester, former manager of the

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

meat packing plant, who was the first person kidnapped by the ERP, in 1971. Sylvester had died weeks earlier. Gorriarán Merlo claimed that he had always wanted to speak to him and apologize. Near the end of his life he publicly stated that he would not choose to return to armed struggle, and tried to obtain political support to run for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

in 2007. To this end, in 2005, before the

legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

, he launched the Party for Work and Development (''Partido del Trabajo y el Desarrollo'') before a throng in Rosario, with the avowed goals of "closing the gap that separates the people from politics and the rich from the poor", "opposing

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

" and supporting "Latin American integration". Gorriarán Merlo died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

at the Hospital Argerich in Buenos Aires while awaiting surgery for an

abdominal aortic aneurysm Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a localized enlargement of the abdominal aorta such that the diameter is greater than 3 cm or more than 50% larger than normal. An AAA usually causes no symptoms, except during rupture. Occasionally, abdo ...

on 22 September 2006, at the age of 64.''Clarín'', 22 September 2006
Murió el ex líder guerrillero Gorriarán Merlo
.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorriaran Merlo, Enrique 1941 births 2006 deaths People from San Nicolás de los Arroyos Argentine people of Basque descent Deaths from abdominal aortic aneurysm Dirty War Argentine revolutionaries Argentine guerrillas Argentine prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Argentina Recipients of Argentine presidential pardons Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Argentine expatriates in Cuba Argentine expatriates in Mexico