Workers Revolutionary Party of Colombia

Last updated
Workers Revolutionary Party of Colombia
AbbreviationPRT
Founded1982
Dissolved1991
Split from Tendencia ML
Labour wing CIS
Ideology Communism
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
Political position Far-left
National affiliation CGSB
Party flag
PRTColombia.svg

Workers Revolutionary Party of Colombia (Spanish : Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores de Colombia) was a political party in Colombia. The party was founded in 1982. [1] It emerged from the 'Majority' faction of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Tendency, a group that had broken away from the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist) in the mid-1970s. [2]

Contents

PRT launched armed struggle against government forces. According to official sources, when the PRT militias were demobilized in 1991 the party had around 200 fighters. [3]

Apart from its armed struggle PRT maintained an open mass front, the trade union organization Corriente de Integración Sindical .

Coordination work

In 1984 PRT entered into the 'Trilateral', a cooperation between the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Revolutionary Integration Movement - Free Fatherland (MIR-PL) and PRT. Amongst other things, the Trilateral resulted in coordination of mass movement activities, leading up the formation of ¡A Luchar! as a joint mass movement. On June 20, 1985, PRT took part in, along with ¡A Luchar!, organizing a national general strike against the policies of the Belisario Betancur government. At the time the National Guerrilla Coordination was born, a coalition consisting of ELN, Popular Liberation Army (EPL), M-19, MIR-PL, Armed Movement Quintín Lame (MAQL), Commando Ricardo Franco (RF) and PRT. With the entry of FARC-EP into the unity work of Colombian guerrilla movements, the National Guerrilla Coordination evolved into the Coordinadora Guerrillera Simón Bolívar in September 1987. Founding members of CGSB were EPL, UC-ELN, FARC-EP, MAQL, M-19 and PRT. [4] [5]

Peace Treaty

In December 1990, president Virgilio Barco expressed willingness to hold peace talks with PRT. [6] Talks were initiated between the Colombian government and PRT. On December 28 an accord was signed between the government and PRT. On January 25, 1991, a final peace treaty was signed in Don Gabriel, Ovejas municipality, Sucre, between the government and PRT. It stipulated, amongst other things, that:

On behalf of the PRT the peace treaty was signed by Valentín González, Sergio Sierra, Pablo Roncallo, Rafael González and Ernesto Falla. [8]

The weaponry of PRT was destroyed at a ceremony on January 26.

Aftermath

Even though the peace treaty specified that PRT would reorganize themselves as a legal political party, such a move never occurred. Instead some members of PRT joined M-19. Rather than organizing party work, PRT cadres became active in social organizations, primarily focus on human rights and peace promotion, in Bolívar and Sucre. [9]

References

  1. Historia Del Movimiento Insurgente En Colombia
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2007-04-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Saludo del Presidente Uribe a los Desmovilizados. - Armada Nacional de Colombia". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  4. Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine , Archived 2007-04-17 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ELN – Colombia
  6. "Centro de Investigación para la Paz. Proyecto Europa Colombia". Archived from the original on 2007-04-08. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  7. "Upcoming Events | Kellogg Institute for International Studies" (PDF).
  8. Cedema.org - Viendo: Acuerdo final entre el PRT y el Gobierno de Colombia
  9. Grabe, Vera (2004). "Los procesos de paz 1990-1994". Conciliation Resources (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2019.

History of the Colombian PRT