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Catalan People's Army | |
---|---|
Exèrcit Popular Català | |
Leader | Jaume Martínez Vendrell |
Foundation | 1969 |
Dissolved | 1979 |
Motives | The creation of an independent state of Catalonia |
Ideology | Catalan nationalism |
The Catalan People's Army (Exèrcit Popular Català, EPOCA), known by its members as La Casa, [1] was a Catalan nationalist paramilitary group which existed during the 1970s. [2]
The group was founded in 1969, as a breakaway group of the National Front of Catalonia. [3] Jaume Martínez Vendrell, the leader of the military wing of the National Front, became its commander. [4] [5] EPOCA trained its militants in urban warfare techniques, smuggling in weaponry from Switzerland. [6]
The group came to prominence through a number of assassinations, committed by attaching pressure-triggered bombs to the bodies of their victims, demanding ransoms, and when they weren't received, leaving the bombs to explode, killing their victims in the process. [7] [8] In this way, the group assassinated in 1977 the industrialist and chemical tycoon José María Bultó, and in 1978 the ex-mayor of Barcelona, Joaquín Viola, along with his wife. [9] [10] [11]
By 1979, the group had become inactive in comparison with many other contemporary groups. Following discussions with paramilitaries from Terra Lliure, the groups decided to merge. [11] [12] [1] This led to many of the better-trained EPOCA militants joining Terra Lliure. [12]
Seven people were arrested in connection with the killings of Bultó and the Violas. [13] Two of them were tried in 1980; one was acquitted entirely, whilst Martínez Vendrell, the other, was sentenced to a year and three months in prison, although this was not directly related to the assassinations. [14] However, he had already served this time awaiting trial, so was immediately released. [15] The remaining five were tried in 1982, saying at the time that they "learned of the assassination through the newspapers and television". [16]
A number of additional arrests were made towards the end of 1980 in connection with the construction of the bombs that were used in the killings. [17]
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ho va fer un comando de l’Exèrcit Popular Català dirigit per Jaume Martínez Vendrell.
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