GRAPO

From Free net encyclopedia

GRAPO is the acronym of the military wing of one of the Spanish communist parties, the Communist Party of Spain (Reconstituted), different from the Partido Comunista de España.

It was formed in 1975 with the goals of driving American forces out of Spain and of overthrowing the Spanish government and replacing it with a Marxist-Leninist regime. Its full name, 'Grupo de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre', translates as "First of October Antifascist Resistance Group".

It has a very low level of popular support, well under the thousands of supporters of the Basque group ETA.

Police sources have likened the inner structure of the group to that of a religious cult.

It is included in the European Union list of terrorist persons and organisations<ref>Posición Común 2004/309/PESC del Consejo, de 2 de abril de 2004, por la que se actualiza la Posición Común 2001/931/PESC sobre la aplicación de medidas específicas de lucha contra el terrorismo y se deroga la Posición Común 2003/906/PESC.- Diario Oficial n° L 099 de 03/04/2004 p. 0061 - 0064.</ref>.

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Tactics

GRAPO's activities include bank robbery, assassinations and bombings of targets such as businesses and governmental buildings. Most of these are designed to bring publicity to the organization; however, the organization is known to be lethal. Its actions have resulted in the killing of 90 people over its history.

Actions taken by law enforcement in both Spain and France have limited this group's actions and resulted in the arrest of many of its leadership and rank-and-file members.

It has been repeatedly declared dismantled by the Spanish police to reappear years later.

Publio Cordón, a rich businessman, was kidnapped on the 27th of June 1995 by GRAPO, which demanded a ransom for his release. His family paid the ransom, but the fate of Cordón is still uncertain. The arrested kidnappers said that he was set free, but the family has not heard from him since.

On 6 February 2006, a married couple of business people was shot in Zaragoza by three men claiming to be GRAPO kidnappers. The woman died and the man was injured. On 9 February, these men tried to rob a bank in Pinto, Madrid.

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