Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front

Founded in 1983 as the armed wing of the Chilean Communist Party, the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (Frente Patriotico Manuel Rodriguez; FPMR) was formed to carry out armed attacks against members and institutions of the brutal Pinochet regime in Chile. The Pinochet regime dealt severely with the FPMR and other dissident groups and is said to have tortured frentistas, as FPMR members are called. After the regime fell in 1990, the group, named for a hero of Chile's war of independence against Spain, continued its attacks on civilians and international targets.

In the late 1980s, the FPMR splintered into two factions, one of which became a political party in 1991. The other dissident faction continued its terrorist activity; the U.S. State Department has considered the group to be a terrorist organization for many years.

In 1991, the FPMR carried out two famous operations. On ...