National Liberation Army–Bolivia

The National Liberation Army–Bolivia (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional; ELN) was a Communist terrorist group that is now believed to be defunct.

Bolivia, bordering on Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay, occupies a central place in Latin American history. The country has experienced more than 200 coups in its 157 years as a nation. Because of its strategic location and chronic political instability, in 1966 Che Guevara chose Bolivia to attempt to repeat the successes of the Cuban revolution.

Guevara's foquista revolutionary theory held and his experiences in Cuba taught him that a mobile band of hardened guerrillas operating in the countryside could become the foco, or focal point, of peasant opposition to the government. Guevara arrived in Bolivia in March 1966 with a group of about 20 Cubans and established a camp in the southern jungle, naming his new group the National Liberation Army. (A different ...