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The Fuerzas Populares de Liberación "Farabundo Martí" (FPL) (English: Farabundo Martí Liberation People's Forces) was a left wing guerrilla military and political organization in El Salvador. It was the oldest of the five groups who in 1980, merged to form the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN).
History
The origin of the FPL is found with the Partido Comunista Salvadoreño (PCS), which at the end of the 1960s proposed the possibility of armed aggression as the best method to face the military dictatorship in El Salvador. The FPL were formed on April 1 of 1970. Amongst the founders, Salvador Cayetano Carpio was considered top leader of the organization, and the leader of the educational union, Mélida Anaya Montes and university professors Clara Elizabeth Ramírez and Felipe Peña Mendoza were high-profile figures. During the 1970s, the FPL grew progressively left wing in their armed approach. The FPL began to increase their social base, carrying out political and social work between the farmers of the North and Central Zone of El Salvador and between the university students. In 1975, the Bloque Popular Revolucionario (BPR) formed to unite trade unions and the backing of the farmers. In 1979, the organization initiated conversations with other groups armed of left for the unification of the revolutionary forces. These negotiations developed, taking shape with the foundation of the FMLN, on the 10 of October 1980.
During the Civil War of El Salvador, the FPL maintained their bases in the rural departments of Chalatenango, Cabañas, Usulután and the San Vicente Department. In April 1983 the organization faced a serious internal crisis with the assassination of Mélida Anaya Montes (Commander Ana Maria) in Managua, Nicaragua. The Secretary General and leader of the organization, Salvador Cayetano Carpio was accused to have ordered the assassination, but before the investigations into the death continued he committed suicide. After the events of April 1983, Commander Leonel González was chosen as the new Secretary General of the organization. After the Chapultepec Peace Accords, the FPL demobilized their military apparatus. By 1995 the internal structure of the organization had dissolved and had completely integrated into the FMLN.