Tupamaros, also known as the National Liberation Army, was an urban guerrilla organization in Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s. Named for the Inca revolutionist, Túpac Amaru II, it began by robbing banks, gun clubs and other businesses in the early 1960s, then distributing stolen food and money among the poor in Montevideo. By the late 1960s, it was engaged in political kidnappings, "armed propaganda" and assassinations.
The military unleashed a bloody campaign of mass arrests and selected disappearances in response, dispersing those guerrillas who were not killed or arrested. Despite the diminished threat, the civilian government of Juan María Bordaberry ceded government authority to the military in 1973 in a bloodless coup that led to further repression against the population and the suppression of all left-wing parties.
The Tupamaros returned to public life as a legal political party after democracy was restored in 1985. Today the party is the largest single group in the ruling Frente Amplio coalition.
After the electoral victory of 31 October2004 two old-time Tupamaros, José Mujica and Nora Castro , became presidents of the two Chambers of the Congress.
