The Popular Revolutionary Vanguard (Vanguardia Popular Revolucionaria  --  VPR) developed after the military coup of 1964. In a situation that would present many parallels throughout Latin America later in the 20th century, a left-leaning head of state was removed by the military and replaced by a right-wing regime, prompting political opposition, insurgency, and terrorism. <br /><p><br />The Marxist Revolutionary Organization  --  Workers' Politics (Organizacao Marxista  -- Politica Operaria- POLOP) created in 1961, gave birth to VPR, which later merged to form the Vanguardia Armada Revolutionary (VAR: Armed Revolutionary Vanguard) and Ala Roja (Red Wing).  The VPR was officially formed in March 1968 and consisted of radical students and ex-soldiers.  The group was led by former army Captain Carlos Lamarca and Joao Quartim.  The VPR joined with the Comando da Libertacao Nacional (COLINA) group in April 1969, forming the VAR-Palmares, named after a historic rebel slave settlement.  In September 1969, Lamarca took the VRP out of the VAR-Palmares and decided to concentrate activities upon the countryside. <br /><p><br />The strong force of insurgency in Brazil was the military rule of the country.  In 1964 the Brazilian military conducted what it referred to as a revolution and what opponents called a coup. Essentially, the military assumed political power in Brazil and stayed there, formally, for twenty years. The long, continued control of the government by military personnel became a strong source of conflict.  Compounding the problem, the military government used political power to create laws preventing opposition.  For example, The Institutional Act 5 in 1968 removed any semblance of democracy.  The VPR and other guerrilla groups saw their struggle as part of the continental fight against imperialism and its Brazilian associates.  They viewed the national oligarchy, multinational and national capital, and the military as an alliance which they needed to fight with violence.  These factors, combined with communist ideology, became the driving inspiration behind the establishment and philosophy of the VPR. <br /><p><br />The armed struggle expanded in San Paulo and Rio de Janeiro  between 1968 and 1971with terrorist actions such as, sabotage, bombings, kidnappings, the capture of arms, and attacks on government institutions and American businesses.  Despite a brief period of terrorist activity, the VPR managed to carry out a prominent kidnapping of Nobico Okushi, the Japanese consul in Sao Paulo.  On March 4, 1970 he was taken from his car en route to his home.  The VPR demanded the release of five individuals from prison and their safe transport to another country.  The Brazilian authorities met the terrorists' demands and released five prisoners who were allowed to leave for Mexico.  Subsequently, Okushi was released unharmed 10 hours later.<br /><p> <br />Although the VPR endured successive waves of imprisonment of militants, the organization regularly participated in the armed actions in 1968 to 1971, in Sao Paulo and Rio. Estimates vary as to the strength of the VPR at its height, but its numbers never exceeded 500. The VPR was suspected of carrying out operations with other Brazilian groups such as the Revolutionary Movement of October 8 (MR-8) and Action for National Liberation (ALN).<br /><p> <br />During 1970 the Brazilian economy began to recover, eroding a base for the popular support that the VPR enjoyed. Concurrently, the Brazilian military began a series of raids against the group in which massive military force was used to overwhelm and destroy the group. The military crackdown caused a series of setbacks for the VPR, which rapidly disintegrated the organization's membership base and leadership. The first significant blow came in 1970 after the Brazilian government learned of the location of VPR's guerrilla training school near Jacupiranga in an area called Vale de Rebeira, San Paulo. Thousands of troops descended on the area, supported by air power and even napalm, and the forces of the VPR were almost completely wiped out. The second blow occurred on September 17, 1971, when Lamarca, the leader, was killed by security forces in the interior of the state of Bahia.  The final demise of VPR occurred, in 1973, when a police infiltrator "Cabo Anselmo" supervised the killing of the remaining militants who were trying to restructure the organization in the Recife region.  Arrests of suspected members continued until 1978.