Foundation and Internal Division The
ERP made its public debut on March 2, 1972, with the annihilation operation against two agents of the now-defunct
National Guard in
San Salvador. In 1973, the poet
Roque Dalton joined the organization. The ERP was born from the union of collectives of
Christian left-wing militants: young
social democrats,
Christian democrats and socially Christian university students. Over the following years, the ERP began to strengthen and build its guerrilla command structure by carrying out recruitment work in the rural areas of eastern El Salvador. Between 1974 and 1975, the ERP underwent a deep internal debate about methods of struggle and internal leadership, mainly between
Alejandro Rivas Mira (whose pseudonym was
Sebastián Urquilla) and
Roque Dalton, which culminated in the treacherous execution of the poet under a political trial on May 10, 1975. This act consolidated Rivas Mira as the top leader of the ERP. On September 26, 1975, Rafael Arce Zablah, the organization’s ideologue, died in combat. His death occurred after he was wounded during the retreat from the occupation of El Carmen, in
La Unión Department. In 1976, the ERP announced the defection of Alejandro Rivas Mira, and
Joaquín Villalobos (
Commander Atilio) assumed the position of General Secretary of the organization. The ERP’s political wing was the Salvadoran Revolutionary Party, which evolved in response to the needs of Salvadoran society.
Growth and the Beginning of the Civil War On January 20, 1979, ERP members carried out “Operation Long Live the Martyrs of January 20,” in which they planted explosives at the Departmental Government Office of
San Miguel, the Ministry of Labor offices, a taxi, and the headquarters of Orden and OMCOM, causing only material damage. In 1979, the first contacts began between leftist political-military organizations to form a unified front. On October 10, 1980, the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) was founded. In January 1981, the FMLN launched its first military offensive. After the offensive failed, guerrilla groups retreated to rural areas amid widespread repression in several Salvadoran cities. During the
war, the ERP established its main bases in the departments of
Usulután,
Morazán, and
San Miguel. One of its most successful military strategies was the operation of the Rafael Arce Zablah Brigade (BRAZ), which became the Special Forces of the ERP/FMLN. This unit achieved major milestones, such as the capture of Cacahuatique Volcano, where the army's strategic communication systems were located—designed by U.S. advisors and previously declared "impenetrable." The ERP also maintained guerrilla forces in the paracentral region of
El Salvador, on the
San Salvador volcano, with urban command units in the metropolitan area of the capital and
Guazapa volcano.
Intensification of the Conflict It is important to highlight that the ERP was one of the best-organized guerrilla groups within the FMLN, and it was even recognized by the
CIA for the effective guerrilla tactics it employed—tactics that led to various combat victories against the
army and the execution of complex special operations on the
battlefield. Furthermore, the ERP was one of the organizations that used cultural tools as a method to spread its political ideas. Among these efforts was the founding of
Radio Venceremos, a fully guerrilla-operated radio station owned by the ERP that broadcast on shortwave three times a day, with its main program airing daily at 6:00 PM. The station also became the official voice of the FMLN, which coordinated five guerrilla groups into a single combat front. During this period, the ERP also published its propaganda organ titled "El Combatiente". One of the most significant attacks carried out by ERP members took place at the
Ilopango Air Force Base on January 27, 1982, where approximately ten soldiers were killed, and guerrilla fighters destroyed 70% of the Salvadoran army’s vehicles through gunfire or explosions. Although the operation was led in the field by guerrilla fighter Doré Castro, alias "Samuel", it was entirely planned by Alejandro Montenegro. Doré Castro died in combat nearly a year later at
Cerro Guazapa. After his death, the younger members of the special forces began calling themselves "Samuelitos" in his honor. In late 1982, Alejandro Arquímedes Montenegro was captured in
Tegucigalpa, Honduras, while en route to
Nicaragua. In April 1984, Bruno Caballero, alias "Commander Quincho", died in combat. On December 17, 1985, Jorge Meléndez, known as "Commander Jonás", delivered his speech titled
"Building a Sea of Guerrilla Warfare," which was broadcast on Radio Venceremos.
Signing of the Peace Accords and Subsequent Events In 1992, following the signing of the
Chapultepec Peace Accords, the ERP demobilized its guerrilla forces and participated in the 1994 presidential and legislative elections as part of the FMLN, which, in accordance with the peace agreement, had been transformed into a legal political party. After the elections, the ERP and the RN adopted a social democratic ideology and separated from the FMLN to jointly form a new political party called the Democratic Party (PD). In May 1993, Joaquín Villalobos was interviewed alongside Juan José Dalton, son of
Roque Dalton, in the Mexican newspaper
Excélsior. In the interview, they discussed the origins of the ERP and the guerrilla movement in El Salvador, and how Villalobos rose through the ranks of the armed struggle. He also reflected on the need for self-criticism, but denied having been one of the direct perpetrators of Roque Dalton’s death. In June 1993, during the first congress of the Revolutionary Party of El Salvador, and after the
Chapultepec Accords had been signed, the People’s Revolutionary Army (ERP) changed its name to People’s Renewed Expression, redirecting its efforts toward peaceful political participation. ==Ideology==