MOVIMIENTO REVOLUCIONARIO LIBERAL
Revolutionary Liberal Movement [MRL]. Reformist offshoot of the Colombian Liberal Party and led by Alfonso López Michelson, q.v. Supported by the Bogotá [CIA] station.
Inside the Company: CIA Diary, by Philip Agee, Stonehill, 1975, p. 192, 618.
Split with Liberal Party The recent statements of leftist Liberal leader Alfonso LOPEZ Michelsen, the pronouncements in the weekly La Calle, of which he is Director, and the Actions of the handful of his followers in the House of Representatives, all serve to emphasize one important fact: the Liberal Party is now split, although the leftists appear to be in a definite minority, and the chances are not very great that the situation will be corrected in the near future. At this point it is worth noting that CAS [CIA Covert Action Staff] has received reports, which it considers probably true, to the effect that the Communist Party has decided to give López limited support; that is, the Communists plan to back López in his attacks on alternation, the National Front Government (this apparently representing some shift in Communist strategy) and on foreign capital they plan to use their machinery and know-how in organizing and publicizing his campaign. López, of course, backs a machine of his own. Tending to confirm these CAS reports are other CAS reports, plus a report from the Consulate in Barranquilla, that the Communists organized, and were much in evidence during a rally for López in that city. The Leftist Liberal Movement, August 12, 1959
Juan de la Cruz Varela's Centers of Strength in the Sumapaz, May 25, 1960
Conversation between Lopez Michelson and Second Secretary of US Embassy, June 21, 1960
Opposition to National Front In a significant speech delivered at a July 15 "victory banquet," Alfonso Lopez Michelson declared his movement's specific and open opposition to the National Front. Lopez also criticized the National Front's economic policy, attacked it as a mechanism incapable of developing Colombia economically and socially, and criticized the government for trying to apply "northamerican" capitalism to an under-developed country such as Colombia. Lopez sought to relate the Colombian situation to the worldwide problem of economic development, and implied that the MRL supported socialistic economic planning. Lopez also made his strongest anti-communist statements to date when he stated that the cause of social justice must not fall into Communist hands. Lopez Michelson Goes into Opposition, July 26, 1960
Santiago SALAZAR Santos, Counselor of Colombian Embassy at Washington, October 31, 1960
Developments in MRL, November 7, 1960
Movimiento Revolucionario Liberal del Valle, November 23, 1960
Juan de la Cruz VARELA in close association with Communists in Cuba, December 21, 1960
More about Juan de la Cruz VARELA, December 21, 1960
MRL Assembly in Medellin, April 25, 1961
MRL Party Organization Restructured, April 25, 1961
Communism in MRL, June 19, 1961
Communism in MRL, June 19, 1961
Political Party Developments, September 22, 1961
MRL Internal Reorganization, October 3, 1961
Letter from Leftist Liberal Leader to President Kennedy, December 13, 1961
Communist Activities in Backlands; Evidence of Disillusionment Among Non-Communist Leftist Liberals of "MRL," December 21, 1961
The premise now being proposed [1962] was that the MRL had not been formed to oppose the National Front, per se, but to counteract the distorted interpretation of it. This was a remarkable political victory for the new president and would lead to the immediate splintering of the MRL and to its break with the Communist Party and all independent leftist forces represented in Congress by Gerardo Molina.
Bandits Peasants and Politics: The Case of "La Violencia" in Colombia, by Gonzalo Sánchez and Donny Meertens, pp. 160-166
Split with Bandoleros Significantly, it was the MRL, through Senators Jaime Isaza Cadavid and Alvaro Uribe Rueda, that ... submitted to the upper house a proposal exactly in accordance with [Minister of War Ruiz Novoa's] request: "The Senate of the Republic, heeding the request of the minister of war in his speech yesterday, most energetically condemns the bandolero activity that has been conducted in the country. And especially the conduct of antisociales who appear, according to the minister's statement, as leaders of cuadrillas of miscreants: Sangrenegra, El Diablo (Agustin Bonilla), Tres Espadas, Tirofijo, El Mico, Chispas, Efrain Gonzalez, and others, and exhorts the directorates of the various sectors of Colombian society to make similar pronouncements."
Bandits Peasants and Politics: The Case of "La Violencia" in Colombia, by Gonzalo Sánchez and Donny Meertens, pp. 160-166By 1962, most of the bandolero-controlled areas supported the MRL, with minimal Conservative exceptions (Efrain Gonzalez) or Liberal ones (Dumar Aljure, in the Llanos). The expansion of both groups, as well as their demise, would largely occur simultaneously: they both reached their peak in 1962, and in 1967 they were both definitely liquidated and disbanded.
Bandits Peasants and Politics: The Case of "La Violencia" in Colombia, by Gonzalo Sánchez and Donny Meertens, pp. 160-166The manifesto adumbrates to some degree the tactics the MRL will follow in the coming months. The MRL will seek to tag the Coalition and the Government as backward, reactionary and at best bumbling; it will seek to present itself as progressive and dynamic. It will also -- and this was confirmed to an Embassy officer by an MRL officer -- seek to tighten up its internal discipline. Whether the split with the extremist "pelusa" clique in Cali is ideologically motivated or not is not clear, but what is clear is that the national leadership wants no further challenges to its authority. MRL Manifesto, June 19, 1962
Conversation with Alfonso LOPEZ Michelson, August 31, 1962
From the beginning of its relatively short life the MRL was rent by severe internal stresses stemming from inherent organizational problems, from differences over programs and tactics, and from clashes in personality. In one sense, the MRL became more of a coalition than a unitary movement. ... The consequence of this factionalism was a series of splits within the first two or three years after the movement came into existence; by late 1962 and early 1963 various factions and groups began to break away. The Colombian Left, December 4, 1972
Internal Politics in the MRL -- Convention Aftermath (A313), December 6, 1962
Hard Line - Soft Line Split MRL "Hard Line" Holds National Conference, November 4, 1963
Evidence of Disintegration in the "Soft Line" MRL in Valle, November 9, 1964
Confidential telegram from Bogotá Embassy to Secretary of State, March 10, 1964
The Colombian left enters the March 15 elections more than usually divided and bewildered. The basic reason for this is the split in the Movimiento Revolucionario Liberal (MRL) which was formalized in May 1963 and which has survived all attempts at healing. Since the MRL is the only large opposition force on the left, those on the left who desired to utilize it as their electoral weapon have been thrown into some confusion. MARCH ELECTIONS: The Position of the Left, March 5, 1964
Lopez said there was every indication that the anti-Lleras groups would win a majority in the congressional elections. He estimated their margin could go as high as 60%. However, there were grave doubts in his mind as to whether, following an anti-Lleras triumph, the presidential election would be held as scheduled. He stated flatly that there was more likelihood of a coup d'etat in such a situation as not. He had already picked up rumors on the subject from the military side and accused Alberto LLERAS of attempting to pave the way by his references to the military in recent speeches. Lopez indicated that he had expected Colonel Alvaro VALENCIA Tovar, the Army's brightest officer, to oppose a coup, but he had heard recently that Valencia Tovar would throw in his lot with the golpistas and would be given an important ministry in return. Asked how this type of military adventurism would turn out, Lopez responded that this would depend on the United States and its attitude toward a military government. Conversation with Alfonso López Michelson, January 12, 1966
In a series of events revolving around a meeting of MRL congressmen and other leading lights on May 12 [1966], party boss Alfonso LOPEZ Michelson sided with his right wing in attempting to shake off Communist influence within the movement. Specifically, Lopez called for MRL autonomy vis a vis the Colombian Communist Party in a written communique sent to the meeting. Acting upon this mesage, the MRL moderates elected one directorate, allowed the extremists to elect their own, and then the former group walked out of the gathering en masse. The days preceding the conference were fraught with rumors about a possible division among MRL leaders on the problems posed. Specifically it was thought that the MRL's anti-communist right wing would make another attempt to liquidate communist influence in the movement and thus win out finally in a struggle which has characterized MRL internal politics since the movement's founding. ... In the past, when the question of communism arose, Lopez had opted for an equivocal policy, first favoring the right wing and then the left. When it appeared that most of the communists led left the mainstream of the movement in the split between the hard and soft lines of 1964, Lopez had accepted them back into the fold. Also, Lopez, while always professing irritation with communist inroads into and demands upon the MRL, was loathe in the final analysis to expel or subordinate individual MRL pro-communist or Communist Party members since many were very friendly to him personally and at the same time were also amongst his most effective campaigners. López Shifts to Right, June 5, 1966
Copyright Paul Wolf, 2002-2004
