Teoponte Guerrilla


The Teoponte guerilla was an armed conflict that occurred in 1970. After the failure of Guevara's guerrilla, radical leftists in Bolivia began to organize again to set up guerrilla resistance, but suffered severe persecution that left many incarcerated, dead or in exile. Despite this, radical university students in Bolivia organized a new insurgency attempt in Teoponte in 1970, trying to overcome mistakes by Che's guerrilla. The participants were mostly Bolivians, but Chileans, Argentines and Peruvians also participated. The guerrilla, that took form in an expedition into the lowlands starting from the Altiplano, lasted from July 19 to November 1 and saw most of its inexperienced participants die by attacks from the military or from disease. When Salvador Allende assumed office in Chile on November 4, his very first decree was to give asylum to the survivors.