¡A Luchar!

Background

With the launching of the policy of national dialogue of the Belisario Betancur government in 1984, various underground leftwing movement began exploring possibilities of building up legal movements. With the social struggles in North-Eastern Colombia, the petrol workers struggle in Arauca and with the rise of the leadership of the Spanish priest Manuel Pérez inside the movement, the National Liberation Army (ELN) began to orient itself towards non-military social struggles.

¡A Luchar! emerged from a long process of discussions and cooperation between three tendencies of the Colombian leftwing; ELN, Workers Revolutionary Party (PRT) and the Revolutionary Integration Movement - Free Fatherland (MIR-Patria Libre). The three tendencies had begun cooperating in 1984. 18 months later, ¡A Luchar! was founded at a Workers, Peasants, People's Meeting held as a commemoration of José Antonio Galán March 16-March 17, 1985. In its initial phase of organizing, ¡A Luchar! mobilized a national civic strike on June 20 against the policies of the Betancur government regarding economic liberalizations and peace negotiations. However, the build-up of ¡A Luchar! aggravated internal divisions between the 'military' and 'political' tendencies inside ELN.

1986 congress

The movement held its first congress in the Jorge Elicier Gaitan Theatre in Bogotá, June 28-June 30, 1986. The organizations that took part in the congress were:

and other groupings. In total 850 delegates took part, as well as some 1000-1500 observers.

Political activity

Nelson Berrío was the main leader of ¡A Luchar!.

¡A Luchar! called for a 'popular tribunal' for president Betancur. His successor, Virgilio Barco, was characterized by the movement as serving the interests of the United States and big capital.

Repression

Similar to the Patriotic Union, ¡A Luchar! became a target for paramilitary violence. Many of its cadres were murdered.