Lautaro Youth Movement

aka Lautaro Faction of the United Popular Action Movement (MAPU/L), Lautaro Popular Rebel Forces (FRPL)

Named for a famous Araucanian Indian warrior, the Lautaro Youth Movement (MJL) is a militant Chilean leftist group that became active in the 1980s. Now said to be largely disbanded, the MJL has been linked to robbing banks, killing policemen on the beat, and attacking Mormon churches.

The movement was formed as a splinter of the political party United Popular Action Movement (Movimiento de Accion Popular Unitario; MAPU). The breakaway group called itself the Lautaro Faction of the MAPU Party, and developed a separate youth movement, the MJL, and a militia, the Lautaro Popular Rebel Forces. A major goal of the MJL and its sister organizations was to overthrow the Pinochet regime.

After Chile returned to democracy in 1990, the MJL continued its militancy. On April 29, 1992, the ...