Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement

Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru; MRTA) is a Peruvian Marxist guerrilla organization founded in 1983; the group took more than 600 people hostage at the Japanese embassy in Lima, Peru, in 1996.

Emerging from the factionalism of the Peruvian left, a small group of Marxist radicals founded MRTA with the aim of ridding Peru of foreign “imperialists,” overthrowing the government, and establishing a Marxist regime. The group takes its name from Tupac Amaru II, a member of the Inca royal house who led a vast Indian uprising in Peru in the 1780s. Inspired by the Cuban Revolution, its leaders particularly admired the politics and tactics of Che Guevara; the group often staged attacks on the anniversaries of his birth and death. Even at its peak, MRTA was estimated to have fewer than 1,000 members and was always overshadowed by the ...