Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Interview with a Tupamaro
Mickey Z. talks with Hiber Conteris
“Unlike other Latin-American guerrilla groups, the Tupamaros normally avoid bloodshed when possible. They try instead to create embarrassment for the Government and general disorder.”
-New York Times (1970)
“You go Uruguay and I’ll go mine.”
-Groucho Marx (1930)
In a recent article (http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/mickeyz10202004/), I declared: “I believe someone needs to write a definitive book on the Tupamaros of Uruguay.” This belief was based primarily on what I had read about the group (a.k.a. “Movement for National Liberation” or MLN) in William Blum’s “Killing Hope.”
“Perhaps the cleverest, most resourceful and most sophisticated urban guerrillas the world has ever seen, the Tupamaros had a deft touch for capturing the public’s imagination with outrageous actions, and winning sympathizers with their Robin Hood philosophy,” Blum wrote. “Their members and secret partisans held key positions in the government, banks, universities, and the professions, as well as in the military and police...Once they ransacked an exclusive high-class nightclub and scrawled on the walls perhaps their most memorable slogan: “O Bailan Todos O No Baila Nadie—Either everyone dances or no one dances.”
After reading that paragraph, you can’t blame me for wanting a whole damn book written on this topic, huh? Well, in response to my public plea, friend and colleague Greg Elich took time to set me up for an e-mail interview with Hiber Conteris, a former Tupamaro now living and working in the U.S.
To read the interview, please click here:
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/mickeyz11232004/
Copyright © 2005-2007 Mickey Z.
