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The Robin Hood Guerrillas: The Epic Journey of Uruguay's Tupamaros
The President of Uruguay, José "Pepe" Mujica, has recently become a global icon. Among other things, he lives a notoriously austere lifestyle; eschews luxury and protocol like no other head of state; has legalized marijuana and same-sex marriage; has agreed to take in Guantánamo detainees and Syrian refugees, and more. According to Mujica himself, all of his conduct and ideology is rooted in his time as a guerrilla: as a Tupamaro.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the uprising of the Tupamaros shook Uruguay and rippled across the Western world. Born in a middle-class, urbanized society, these guerrillas did not fight within the natural shelters of jungles and mountains, but rather in the concrete maze of the city. Infiltrating residences, bars, movie theaters, sewers, police stations, and mansions, the Tupamaros were everywhere and nowhere.
Uruguay's under-resourced police had to face the world's most sophisticated urban insurgents. The Tupamaros employed diverse, though often contradictory, tactics: from hunger relief commandos and the armed propaganda that gave them the Robin Hood title, to taking hostages and descending into murderous terrorism. In doing so, they integrated women like no other guerrilla force before, and staged memorable prison escapes.
This is the first complete English-language history of the Tupamaros and of Mujica, who under the codename Facundo was directly involved in many operations. As the president himself has said, the way to understand him as both man and politician is as a Tupamaro.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the uprising of the Tupamaros shook Uruguay and rippled across the Western world. Born in a middle-class, urbanized society, these guerrillas did not fight within the natural shelters of jungles and mountains, but rather in the concrete maze of the city. Infiltrating residences, bars, movie theaters, sewers, police stations, and mansions, the Tupamaros were everywhere and nowhere.
Uruguay's under-resourced police had to face the world's most sophisticated urban insurgents. The Tupamaros employed diverse, though often contradictory, tactics: from hunger relief commandos and the armed propaganda that gave them the Robin Hood title, to taking hostages and descending into murderous terrorism. In doing so, they integrated women like no other guerrilla force before, and staged memorable prison escapes.
This is the first complete English-language history of the Tupamaros and of Mujica, who under the codename Facundo was directly involved in many operations. As the president himself has said, the way to understand him as both man and politician is as a Tupamaro.
402 pages, Paperback
First published April 29, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 25, 2019
A biased look at the Tupamaros; the most effective, clever and educated anti- imperialist, dissident /activist group of the cold war. Although mentioned, Brum minimizes the many unusual things the Tupas did (and have accomplished since, and currently, as the elected leadership of Uruguay). He describes brutal treatment of the targeted kidnap victims - never mentioning that, for the most part they were well treated. One man released had gained considerable weight while in captivity with the Tupas, prompting others to say “kidnap me!”, or the many things they did to redistribute wealth to the poor. When a car was stolen for an action - it was always returned to the owner, with some money to recompense. If a robbery was carried out, the Tupas paid the workers their salary before they left.
The author just couldn’t help but show his politics - when discussing the Known Torturer Dan Mitrione who the Tupas killed (sad face here) he refers to him as an “alleged torturer”. Mr. Mitrione was sent to teach the Uruguayan military how to torture without killing (so the torture could continue). A man so cruel the police chief of Montevideo was fired for not being able to carry out his orders and "hardened journalists cried" when they heard details of his actions.
This is the man who taught: “precise pain, at the precise place, at the precise time”, the man who kidnapped homeless folks who “no one would miss” to teach and practice his techniques on before killing them...see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghQQg...
These facts were NOT included in Brum's book.
More, in contradistinction to the overwhelming evidence, this author tries to imply that Mr. Mitrione really wasn’t like that.
Many times, especially when covering the early years, Brum minimizes the actions of the military and police - many who had trained at the US’s School of the Assassins, er, i mean Americas. i was frequently driven to edit his words with my own (much column scribbling). i wonder if he had bothered to read ‘Nunca Mas’ or Weschler’s ‘a Miracle, a Universe’.
A given action done by the MLN (Tupas) would be defined as “vengeful” (pg. 190) but the same action was understandable, or perhaps just “alleged” if done by the police.
After the military coup in 1973 he does admit that torture was used on the imprisoned Tupamaros. In fact in this tiny country (just over 3 million) was the most tortured place on earth with 1/50 people incarcerated/tortured during those dark years - so pretty much everyone was affected, hardly any family escaped unscathed. A sign on the prison wall said: “To combat subversion it is necessary to sink one’s hands into the mud and get dirty”.
As the Left coalesced into the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) for the elections in 1971, the US government - never trusting “democracy” to anyone but themselves - plotted the outcome of the election. the US ambassador (Adair): “I would prefer to see us take actions in advance calculated to assure Frente Amplio defeat...I prefer to see a traditional party victory…” (pg 198)
The Frente Amplio, in charge of Uruguay for the last 11 years, has brought ⅓ of the population out of poverty, significantly decreased the chasm between rich and poor (rich getting poorer and poor getting richer), expanded the safety net in many ways, given every child a laptop, legalized marijuana and same sex marriage, and much more.
Gosh, of COURSE the US government had to stop them.
This author says: “it is no wonder the US embassy began..actions, both covert and overt to impede a Frente victory.” (Oops, your right wing is showing).
The 1973 coup meant a decade under the heavily pressured thumb of the military, who were fighting “anything that threatened the 'natural lifestyle and basic scale of moral values of UY or that deteriorate the nation’s social, moral, and economic arrangements'.” (p. 311) sadly, followed.
1 star for bias blending with mendacity, 2 for readability.
a related book:
my review of “The Tupamaros” - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
p.s. i know my bias shows - but i'm not claiming to write history!
The author just couldn’t help but show his politics - when discussing the Known Torturer Dan Mitrione who the Tupas killed (sad face here) he refers to him as an “alleged torturer”. Mr. Mitrione was sent to teach the Uruguayan military how to torture without killing (so the torture could continue). A man so cruel the police chief of Montevideo was fired for not being able to carry out his orders and "hardened journalists cried" when they heard details of his actions.
This is the man who taught: “precise pain, at the precise place, at the precise time”, the man who kidnapped homeless folks who “no one would miss” to teach and practice his techniques on before killing them...see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghQQg...
These facts were NOT included in Brum's book.
More, in contradistinction to the overwhelming evidence, this author tries to imply that Mr. Mitrione really wasn’t like that.
Many times, especially when covering the early years, Brum minimizes the actions of the military and police - many who had trained at the US’s School of the Assassins, er, i mean Americas. i was frequently driven to edit his words with my own (much column scribbling). i wonder if he had bothered to read ‘Nunca Mas’ or Weschler’s ‘a Miracle, a Universe’.
A given action done by the MLN (Tupas) would be defined as “vengeful” (pg. 190) but the same action was understandable, or perhaps just “alleged” if done by the police.
After the military coup in 1973 he does admit that torture was used on the imprisoned Tupamaros. In fact in this tiny country (just over 3 million) was the most tortured place on earth with 1/50 people incarcerated/tortured during those dark years - so pretty much everyone was affected, hardly any family escaped unscathed. A sign on the prison wall said: “To combat subversion it is necessary to sink one’s hands into the mud and get dirty”.
As the Left coalesced into the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) for the elections in 1971, the US government - never trusting “democracy” to anyone but themselves - plotted the outcome of the election. the US ambassador (Adair): “I would prefer to see us take actions in advance calculated to assure Frente Amplio defeat...I prefer to see a traditional party victory…” (pg 198)
The Frente Amplio, in charge of Uruguay for the last 11 years, has brought ⅓ of the population out of poverty, significantly decreased the chasm between rich and poor (rich getting poorer and poor getting richer), expanded the safety net in many ways, given every child a laptop, legalized marijuana and same sex marriage, and much more.
Gosh, of COURSE the US government had to stop them.
This author says: “it is no wonder the US embassy began..actions, both covert and overt to impede a Frente victory.” (Oops, your right wing is showing).
The 1973 coup meant a decade under the heavily pressured thumb of the military, who were fighting “anything that threatened the 'natural lifestyle and basic scale of moral values of UY or that deteriorate the nation’s social, moral, and economic arrangements'.” (p. 311) sadly, followed.
1 star for bias blending with mendacity, 2 for readability.
a related book:
my review of “The Tupamaros” - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
p.s. i know my bias shows - but i'm not claiming to write history!
March 3, 2025
The author really did his homework however I felt he went into more detail than necessary. Perhaps it’s because I already had background knowledge on the Tupamaros thanks to the Netflix doc on Pepe Mujica plus a podcast series. But still, the author gets bogged down in ridiculously meticulous details that do not impact outcomes. It’s not like they were interesting side notes either, it was just filler.
May 3, 2017
Robin Hood Guerrillas examines the Tupamaros, the leftist guerrillas who alternately terrorized and fascinated Uruguay in the '60s and '70s (and one of whose veterans, Jose Murica, served as president from 2010-2015). Pablo Brum's been accused of bias in his reportage, but I don't really see it beyond his occasional willingness to soft-pedal police abuses. He analyzes Tupa actions within the context of '60s revolutionary movements in Latin America, noting their focus on urban warfare made them markedly different from similar groups in Cuba, Bolivia and elsewhere. Also, how their extreme tactics (especially their murder of Daniel Mitrone, who made them heroes to leftists worldwide) alienated a population who, given Uruguay's relatively stable and economically prosperous country, weren't receptive towards calls for armed revolution. The portrait isn't unsympathetic though, viewing the Tupamaros more as misguided idealists than evil terrorists, even if their ideology seems incoherent in spots. Well worth seeking out, especially given the paucity of English-language books on the subject.
May 6, 2023
This sentence bothers me because not only is it extremely inaccurate, but it's among one of the opening paragraphs in the book so it sets a tone from the beginning that makes me cast doubt on the author's research, conclusions, and credibility:
"As a society made up predominantly of European immigrants -particularly form Spain, Italy, and Portugal-, with solid levels of social integration and a tradition of republican liberalism and democracy, Uruguay never faced many of the systemic problems other countries in the Americas did (and do to this day)."
We all know that is just not true.
With that out of the way though, I did enjoy the book otherwise. I didn't see much bias in it and it told the history in a way that seemed balanced and held my interest throughout. I'm currently on a kick of Uruguayan authors and history and I came to this after reading Rosencof's book "Las cartas que no llegaron". It was interesting to hear the early involvement and beliefs of not only of Rosencof and President Mujica, but of the other lesser known Tupamaros as well.
"As a society made up predominantly of European immigrants -particularly form Spain, Italy, and Portugal-, with solid levels of social integration and a tradition of republican liberalism and democracy, Uruguay never faced many of the systemic problems other countries in the Americas did (and do to this day)."
We all know that is just not true.
With that out of the way though, I did enjoy the book otherwise. I didn't see much bias in it and it told the history in a way that seemed balanced and held my interest throughout. I'm currently on a kick of Uruguayan authors and history and I came to this after reading Rosencof's book "Las cartas que no llegaron". It was interesting to hear the early involvement and beliefs of not only of Rosencof and President Mujica, but of the other lesser known Tupamaros as well.
September 13, 2015
Hard to boil the amazing story of the short lived insurgency in Uruguay into 350 pages, but even a top level skimming of their story is fascinating. A bit of a rough read at points (weird editing to say the least)...it is still a book I'd highlight recommend to better understand this group, who not surprisingly were not covered in any history books I was taught with growing up.
September 3, 2025
I've been dipping into books about Uruguay- a place I've never been- and about Jose ('Pepe') Mujica, the ex-President of Uruguay who died recently. I haven't been able to find many English-language books about the Tupamaros, especially recent ones, and this book, written in 2014, seemed to be as recent as I was going to find. I know little about the historiography of Latin America, and Uruguay in particular, or the author (who was/is an American international security analyst - whatever that is) so I can only take the book on its own terms. To my admittedly untrained eye, the book seemed to be fairly even-handed, and easily read by a newcomer to the area, although an index for the huge range of characters would have been useful.
...I gather that Brum makes some contested points in this book. He argues that it was not certain-indeed, he leans towards refuting- that U.S. government official Dan Mitrione, who was murdered in 1970, actually trained the police in torture methods. He suggests that during 1972 and 1985, when the nine most prominent Tupamaros were imprisoned, and moved from one military base to another, the Tupamaros themselves sent out feelers to the very military that was imprisoning them, to see if they could work together.
I enjoyed this book, although I was mystified by the curious insertions of #### and ++++++ to denote endnotes, as well as nearly 600 footnotes throughout the text. It was supportive of a reader with little knowledge, and he established the major characters sufficiently clearly that you could trace them throughout the narrative, although they threatened to be swamped by so many minor characters mentioned in person.
My complete review can be found at:
https://residentjudge.com/2025/09/03/...
...I gather that Brum makes some contested points in this book. He argues that it was not certain-indeed, he leans towards refuting- that U.S. government official Dan Mitrione, who was murdered in 1970, actually trained the police in torture methods. He suggests that during 1972 and 1985, when the nine most prominent Tupamaros were imprisoned, and moved from one military base to another, the Tupamaros themselves sent out feelers to the very military that was imprisoning them, to see if they could work together.
I enjoyed this book, although I was mystified by the curious insertions of #### and ++++++ to denote endnotes, as well as nearly 600 footnotes throughout the text. It was supportive of a reader with little knowledge, and he established the major characters sufficiently clearly that you could trace them throughout the narrative, although they threatened to be swamped by so many minor characters mentioned in person.
My complete review can be found at:
https://residentjudge.com/2025/09/03/...
June 26, 2019
A fascinating story!
Read
July 14, 2023absolute shite. which is a shame bc there's so few books on uruguayan history. the top review on this is so right
July 11, 2016
Detail book about the Tupamaro guerrilla fighters in Uruguay in the 1960´s and 1970´s. This book is written like a thesis.
In the late 1960´s Raul Sendic founded the MLN or Tupamaros. Their goal was to overthrow the Uruguayan government and the corrupt capitalists. Initially, they performed "armed propaganda" which was using weapons to disseminate pamphlets and to uncover corrupt businessmen. They didn´t want to harm innocent civilians which is a reason why many called them Robin Hood guerrillas. However, when they robbed banks & businesses, they never turned over any of the confiscated goods/monies to the poor because they wanted the monies to further their own collective resources (to buy more weapons, etc).
By the early 1970´s the newer recruits were more violent. Murders were done like killing a ranch hand who knew about their existence in the countryside and the killing of Dan Mitrione, an American consultant (he was not CIA). Then the Army took over the investigation and, eventually, a coup d´tate. Uruguay which was a country of liberal democracy was now under a military dictatorship which lasted until the late 1980´s. (There was still a president but he was a figurehead only).
This is a very detail expose of the Tupamaros, guerrilla groups in the 1970´s, and Uruguay history.
In the late 1960´s Raul Sendic founded the MLN or Tupamaros. Their goal was to overthrow the Uruguayan government and the corrupt capitalists. Initially, they performed "armed propaganda" which was using weapons to disseminate pamphlets and to uncover corrupt businessmen. They didn´t want to harm innocent civilians which is a reason why many called them Robin Hood guerrillas. However, when they robbed banks & businesses, they never turned over any of the confiscated goods/monies to the poor because they wanted the monies to further their own collective resources (to buy more weapons, etc).
By the early 1970´s the newer recruits were more violent. Murders were done like killing a ranch hand who knew about their existence in the countryside and the killing of Dan Mitrione, an American consultant (he was not CIA). Then the Army took over the investigation and, eventually, a coup d´tate. Uruguay which was a country of liberal democracy was now under a military dictatorship which lasted until the late 1980´s. (There was still a president but he was a figurehead only).
This is a very detail expose of the Tupamaros, guerrilla groups in the 1970´s, and Uruguay history.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews