The Armed Forces of National Liberation (in Spanish: ''Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional'', FALN) was a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n guerrilla group formed by the

Communist Party of Venezuela The Communist Party of Venezuela (, PCV) is a communist party in Venezuela. Founded in 1931, it is the oldest active political party in Venezuela, and was the country's main leftist party until it fractured into rival factions in 1971. The P ...

to foment revolution against the governments of

Rómulo Betancourt Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello (22 February 1908 – 28 September 1981; ), known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was a Venezuelan politician who served as the president of Venezuela, from and again from Second presidency of Rómulo ...

and Raul Leoni.

Background

In 1958, Betancourt's Democratic Action (''Acción Democrática'', AD) party largely sidelined the left-wing, notably the

(''Partido Comunista de Venezuela'', PCV). The 1959

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

influenced PCV and student groups. Many leftist students formed the Revolutionary Left Movement (''Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria'', MIR) in April 1960. Betancourt's firm stance against Castro, especially Cuba's expulsion from the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

(OAS) led to bloody military uprisings in 1962, first at Carúpano on the Península of Paria, then at Puerto Cabello. After the unsuccessful revolts, Betancourt suspended

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

and arrested the MIR and PCV members of the forerunner to the

National Assembly of Venezuela The National Assembly () is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a ...

bicameral Congress in 1962. This drove the leftists underground and founded the FALN on 1 January 1963. The FALN were engaged in rural and urban guerrilla activities, including seizure of the Venezuelan cargo ship ''Anzoátegui'', kidnapping

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

soccer star

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

(both performed by Paul del Rio), sabotaging oil pipelines, kidnapping of American Colonel Michael Smolen, bombing a Sears Roebuck warehouse, and bombing the United States Embassy in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

. Despite their efforts, the FALN failed to rally the rural poor to their support and to disrupt the December 1963 elections. Since the 1960's, Cuba sent military forces to Latin American, African and Arab countries. In 1966 and 1967 little forces of Cuba landed in Venezuelan coast to support the guerilla of the FALN. The FALN fought through the Llanos of Venezuela and along the Colombian border near the city of San Cristóbal for many years. The president of Venezuela at the time, Raul Leoni, sent troops to fight against the guerrillas. General Rafael Sanchez Agüero eliminated the FALN in the state of

Táchira Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

in 1969. Alongside Colonel Arturo Julio Salazar.

In popular culture

The 1975 film '' Chronicle of a Latin American Subversive'' (Spanish: ''Crónica de un subversivo latinoamericano'') by director Mauricio Walerstein, narrates the real life FALN kidnapping of American Colonel Michael Smolen (portrayed as ''Colonel Robert Whitney'' by actor Claudio Brook) in revenge for Nguyen Van Troi's death sentence.

References

External links

The Triumph of Democracy
via U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies/Area Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army between 1986 and 1998. {{Authority control Communism in Venezuela Communist Party of Venezuela Defunct communist militant groups Guerrilla movements in Latin America Political organizations based in Venezuela Paramilitary organizations based in Venezuela

Background

In popular culture

See also

References

External links