The Fuerzas Populares de Liberación "Farabundo Martí" (FPL) (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces) was a

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

guerrilla military and political organization in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. It was the oldest of the five groups that merged in 1980 to form the

Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional Frente! (or Frente) were an Australian folk music, folk-pop music, pop and indie pop group which originally formed in 1989. The original line-up consisted of Simon Austin on guitar and backing vocals, Angie Hart on lead vocals, Tim O'Connor on ...

(FMLN).

History

The FPL grew out of the Partido Comunista Salvadoreño (PCS), which at the end of the 1960s proposed armed aggression as the best method to oppose the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

in El Salvador. The FPL was formed on 1 April 1970; amongst the founders,

Salvador Cayetano Carpio Salvador Cayetano Carpio (6 August 1918 – 12 April 1983), also known as Commander Marcial, was the leader of the Communist Party of El Salvador in the 1960s, until he quit the party to found the Salvadoran revolutionary political-military organ ...

was considered the top leader of the organization, while Mélida Anaya Montes, the leader of the educational union, and university professors Clara Elizabeth Ramírez and Felipe Peña Mendoza were high-profile figures. During the 1970s, the FPL began to increase its social base, carrying out political and social work with the farmers of the North and Central Zone of El Salvador and with university students. In 1975, the Bloque Popular Revolucionario (BPR) formed to unite trade unions and farmers. In 1979, the organization initiated conversations with other armed groups on the left for the unification of the revolutionary forces. These negotiations led to the foundation of the FMLN on 10 October 1980. During the Civil War of El Salvador, the FPL maintained its bases in the rural departments of Chalatenango, Cabañas,

Usulután Usulután () is the fifth largest city in El Salvador, and capital of the Usulután Department in the south-east of El Salvador. As of 2006, it is estimated to have population of 71,636 people. Usulután rests in a rich agricultural valley and ...

and the

San Vicente Department San Vicente () is a department of El Salvador in the center of the country. The capital is San Vicente. On October 4, 1834, San Vicente City of Austria and Lorenzana (Ciudad de San Vicente de Austria y Lorenzana) was made the capital of State ...

. In April 1983 the organization faced a serious internal crisis with the assassination of Mélida Anaya Montes (Commander Ana Maria) in

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. The Secretary General and leader of the organization, Salvador Cayetano Carpio was accused of ordering the assassination, and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

before the investigations into her death concluded. After the events of April 1983, Commander

Leonel González Leonel Hernán González (born 15 March 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Argentinos Juniors, on loan from Godoy Cruz. Career González progressed through the Newell's Old Boys ranks. He never made a co ...

was chosen as the new Secretary General of the organization. After the

Chapultepec Peace Accords The Chapultepec Peace Accords were a set of Peace treaty, peace agreements signed on January 16, 1992, the day in which the Salvadoran Civil War ended. The treaty established peace between the El Salvador, Salvadoran government and the Farabund ...

, the FPL demobilized their military apparatus. By 1995 the organization had dissolved and had been completely integrated into the FMLN.

References

External links

Origins and development of the FPL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuerzas Populares de Liberacion Farabundo Marti 1970 establishments in El Salvador 1990s disestablishments in El Salvador 1995 disestablishments in North America Communism in El Salvador Defunct communist militant groups Defunct organizations based in El Salvador Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front Guerrilla movements in Latin America Insurgent groups in North America Organizations disestablished in 1995 Organizations established in 1970 Paramilitary organizations based in El Salvador Salvadoran Civil War