The Workers' Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, PRT) was a Marxist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, mainly active in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently there are different groups that claim to be a continuation of the historical PRT. The PRT was founded in 1965 by

Mario Roberto Santucho Mario Roberto Santucho (12 August 1936 – 19 July 1976) was an Argentine revolutionary and guerrilla combatant, founder of the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores ( Workers' Revolutionary Party, PRT) and leader of Argentina's largest Marxi ...

(FRIP) and Leandro Fote by merging two existing far-left political parties.

History

The origins of the PRT lay in the merger of two leftist organizations in 1965, the Revolutionary and Popular Indoamericano Front ''(Frente Revolucionario Indoamericano Popular (FRIP))'' and Worker's Word ''(Palabra Obrera (PO)''. The FRIP had been founded by Francisco René Santucho and his brother Mario Roberto in 1961 at Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It was a ruralist,

indigenist Indigenism can refer to several different ideologies that seek to promote the interests of indigenous peoples. The term is used differently by various scholars and activists, and can be used purely descriptively or carry political connotations. D ...

(pro-

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

) and revolutionary movement that extended its influence throughout the provinces of Tucumán, Chaco and

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

. ''Palabra Obrera'', on the other hand was a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

party founded by

Nahuel Moreno Nahuel Moreno (real name Hugo Miguel Bressano Capacete; April 24, 1924 – January 25, 1987) was a Trotskyism, Trotskyist leader from Argentina. Moreno was active in the Trotskyist movement from 1942 until his death. Biography 1950s–1960s Durin ...

, active in the trade unions. Its main strategy had been infiltrating sectors of the Peronist movement in order to win them over to

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. In 1968 the PRT adhered to the

Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of ...

, based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. That same year a related organisation was founded in Argentina, the ERP ( People's Revolutionary Army) that became the strongest rural guerrilla movement in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

during the 1970s. The PRT left the Fourth International in 1973.POR QUÉ NOS SEPARAMOS DE LA IV INTERNACIONAL, PRT Argentina. Junta de Coordinación Revolucionaria (JCR) Agosto de 1973.
/ref> Both the PRT and the ERP were suppressed by the Argentine military regime during the

Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as ...

. ERP commander

Roberto Santucho Mario Roberto Santucho (12 August 1936 – 19 July 1976) was an Argentine revolutionary and guerrilla combatant, founder of the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores ( Workers' Revolutionary Party, PRT) and leader of Argentina's largest Marxi ...

was killed in July 1976. Owing to the ruthless repression PRT showed no signs of activity after 1977.

Leaders

Benito Urteaga Benito Urteaga was a Marxist revolutionary and guerrilla from Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area ...

Enrique Gorriarán Merlo Enrique Haroldo Gorriarán Merlo (18 October 1941 – 22 September 2006) was an Argentine guerrilla, born in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Buenos Aires Province. His family was affiliated with the Radical Civic Union, but at the age of 27 Gorriar ...

References

{{Former political parties in Argentina Communist parties in Argentina Dirty War Trotskyist organisations in Argentina

History

Leaders

See also

References