Conflict: | Teoponte Guerrilla |
Partof: | Cold War |
Date: | July 19, 1970–November 1, 1970 |
Place: | Bolivia |
Result: | Bolivian government victory |
Combatant1: | Student guerrilla |
Commander1: | Osvaldo Peredo Elmo Catalán |
Commander2: | Alfredo Ovando Candía (Until October 6) Juan José Torres (From October 6) |
Casualties1: | 67 Osvaldo Peredo exiled |
Casualties2: | unknown |
The Teoponte Guerilla was an armed conflict that occurred in 1970. After the failure of Che 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 made by Guevara's guerrilla. The participants were mostly Bolivians, but Chileans, Argentines, and Peruvians also partook. The guerrilla, which 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.[1]