VAR-Palmares was a Communist revolutionary group that existed from 1969 to about 1972 and 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 />VAR-Palmares was formed from the merger of two previous Brazilian revolutionary groups, the Comando da Libertacao Nacional (COLINA) group, and the Revolutionary Popular Vanguard (VPR). The COLINA group was a Marxist-Leninist faction which sprang from the Organizacao Marxista  -- Politica Operaria (POLOP, Marxist Revolutionary Organization  --  Workers' Politics) militants in Minas Gerais in 1967.  The VPR was better known than COLINA because of its association with former Brazilian army captain Carlos Lamarca.  As COLINA faced a number of arrests, the two merged in April 1969. The result of the merger was VAR-Palmares, named after a large Brazilian settlement in the 1600s. The group's primary goal was to overthrow Brazil's military dictatorship, in power since 1964.<br /><P><br />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.  VAR-Palmares 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 acommunist ideology became the driving inspiration behind the establishment and philosophy of VAR-Palmares. <br /><P><br />In September 1969, internal friction caused the group to split. A dissenting faction withdrew from VAR-Palmares and reconstituted the VPR, with Carlos Lamarca once again its leader.  Before the September 1969 split, VAR-Palmares executed an extremely successful guerrilla assault designed to obtain funds for the clandestine group.  With inside information, the group robbed a safe containing $2.5 million.  According to VAR-Palmares, the money had come from the corrupt activities of Adhemar de Barros, the former governor of Sao Paulo.  <br /><P><br />On January 1st, 1970, eight VAR-Palmares members hijacked a Brazilian Cruzeiro airplane that was en route from Motevideo, Uruguay, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The flight was diverted and eventually landed in Cuba. No information is available regarding the outcome of the hijacking. In claiming the attack, VAR-Palmares stated the reason of the hijacking was to pay homage to Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the famous Marxist revolutionary who was killed in 1967.<br /><P><br />As efforts of the government to destroy the guerrilla movement (which peaked in 1970) became relentless and especially brutal, VAR-Palmares was again faced with strong internal dissent over how to confront the growing repression.  In Rio de Janeiro, one faction split from the parent organization and formed the VAR-Palmares Dissidence, later renamed Unified Group.  The Unified Group was more focused on preparing for armed struggle in rural areas.  The other faction, who remained with VAR-Palmares, called for the end of armed actions.  They decided to focus their activities on organizing urban workers into "Worker's Unions."<br /><P><br />By 1971 VAR-Palmares had begun to disintegrate.  Attempts to salvage the group became useless when key leaders like, Carlos Alberto Soares de Freitas and Mariano Joaquin da Silva, were arrested and possibly killed by the Brazilian military in 1971. The group disbanded shortly thereafter. A third leader, Dilma Rousseff, was imprisoned for three years in 1970, but went on to hold several government positions after Brazil installed a democratic federal system in 1985. She is currently the Chief of Staff under President Luis Inacio Lula. <br />