First of October Antifascist Resistance Group

The First of October Antifascist Resistance Group, generally known as GRAPO (from the Spanish name, Grupo de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre) is a Spanish leftist terrorist organization founded in the mid-1970s. From the beginning of its existence it has been overshadowed by the larger and more active nationalist Basque Fatherland and Liberty (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, or ETA), and little is known about the group.

The group seems to have originated as the armed wing of the Reconstituted Communist Party, a hard-line faction that broke from the [Page 210]Spanish Communist Party in 1968. It took its name from date of the revenge killing of four police officers on October 1, 1975. The four officers were murdered in retaliation for the September 1975 execution of three radical leftists by Francisco Franco's regime. GRAPO advocates a Leninist revolutionary strategy, in which a vanguard of Communist rebels acts as a catalyst for revolution by the working class. In practice its attacks, inasmuch as they seem to be directed toward a political goal, seem to center on getting amnesty for and better treatment of political prisoners. (The group did organize a bombing campaign in support of labor interests during 2000, however.) While it has engaged in several bombing campaigns, kidnappings, and robberies during its history, the group's main tactic has been assassinations, mostly of security forces and other government officials.

GRAPO was most active from 1976 to 1982, a time of great upheaval in Spain. The fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco had come to an end with his death in October 1975, and the country was making the difficult transition to democracy and the restoration of a constitutional monarchy. Many pro-Franco officials retained high positions in the government, however, especially the military, and political activity by radical leftists increased greatly after being suppressed for a long period. During these years, GRAPO was at its most vehement about demands for amnesty for political prisoners, a very controversial issue in Spanish politics.

Despite GRAPO's attacks on rightist figures such as military generals, speculation was widespread that the group was a tool of the extreme Spanish right. Accusers point to the timing of the group's attacks—many of the most spectacular occurred during times of political upheaval for the democratic government—and its seemingly endless funds, as well as the scheduling of its attacks, which would seem to have required an intimate knowledge of the daily agendas and security precautions of the group's high-profile victims. No evidence has come to light in support of these suspicions, but in the late 1970s, many GRAPO members were quietly released several months after being arrested without being tried.

The number of attacks attributed to GRAPO declined during the mid-1980s, after members began to serve lengthy prison sentences. The group appears to resemble the phoenix in its ability to resurrect itself. The Spanish police have announced that the group has been all but destroyed more than half a dozen times, yet it has always returned to commit more attacks. Its strength and funds have certainly been seriously diminished since its heyday, however. From a peak of about 200 members, GRAPO is now believed to have about a dozen members who are not imprisoned.

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