ABSTRACT
In The War for the Cities, a very useful introduction to the worldwide phenomenon of urban insurgency, Robert Moss noted that as of the end of 1971 the Tupamaro urban guerrilla movement of Uruguay was the only such movement then in existence that stood any real chance of seizing power. All contemporary urban guerrillas owe a debt to Carlos Marighella, the Brazilian guerrilla leader and author of the Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla. In a document found in 1967, the Tupamaros expressed their reasons for emphasizing the urban focus for revolutionary activity. The ultimate development in an urban guerrilla struggle, in Guillen's view, is the strategic paralysis of the enemy by an insurrectionary populace fighting at local, intermediate, and national levels of the society. The Tupamaros believed that massive strikes and militant activities by the workers would be integral elements leading up to and promoting the victory of the eventual urban uprising.
