Revolutionary People's Struggle

aka Revolutionary Popular Struggle

The Revolutionary People's Struggle (Epanastatiko Laikos Agonas; ELA) is a Greek terrorist group that has been active since 1973. The ELA is believed to have between 20 and 30 hard-core members.

The ELA was founded during a period of intense political turmoil in Greece. Student protests in November 1973 had triggered a police crackdown that killed more than 30 of the demonstrators and wounded scores. Shortly thereafter, these events heralded the fall of the Greece's ruling military junta and its replacement by a civilian government in 1974. Many leftists believed that the democratic reforms had not gone far enough and that mid-1970s Greece was [Page 316]finally ripe for a communist revolution. The ELA hoped to help inspire that revolution.

For much of its history, the ELA, unlike its more nationalist and secretive compatriot, the Revolutionary Organization 17 November (RO-17N, or 17N), engaged in ...