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Have you ever heard of Uruguay’s Robin Hood guerrillas? The communist group raided Uruguay’s Bank of the Republic today in 1970, possibly the biggest bank and jewelry heist in history at that time.

Preliminary estimates by bank officials valued the loot at $6 million in jewels and $48,000 in cash, equivalent to almost $50 million today.

The five men and four women team were part of the Tupamaros, an Uruguayan communist organization. The basic principle guiding them was “revolutionary action in itself.”

The Tupamaros refrained from attacking the government openly but rather sought either to expose its corruption or force it to display its weakness and respond with excessive repression.

They achieved their goals by only fighting the police when forced to, and whenever their raids could potentially hurt civilians, they made a point of protecting them. Even Montevideo’s chief of police at the time had to admit they were “the perfect organization” with “good manners” and “humane behavior.”

The unique strategy employed by the Tupamaros included countless robberies where they later redistributed the food and money amongst the poor, earning them the nickname “Robin Hood Guerrillas” in the international press.

Unsurprisingly, a 1969 Gallup Poll revealed that the Tupamaros enjoyed the support of most Uruguayans, particularly the proletariat.

Following a military coup in Uruguay in 1973, Uruguay’s US-trained military forced the Tupamaros into retreat. After its main leaders were murdered or arrested, the Tupamaros turned to parliamentary politics.

#Tupamaros #Uruguay #BankHeist