The origins of the PRT lay in the merger of two leftist organizations in 1965, the
Revolutionary and Popular Indoamericano Front (Frente Revolucionario Indoamericano Popular (FRIP)) and
Worker's Word (Palabra Obrera (PO). The FRIP had been founded by Francisco René Santucho and his brother Mario Roberto in 1961 at
Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It was a
ruralist,
indigenist (pro-
Amerindian) and revolutionary movement that extended its influence throughout the provinces of
Tucumán,
Chaco and
Salta.
Palabra Obrera, on the other hand was a
Trotskyist party founded by
Nahuel Moreno, active in the trade unions. Its main strategy had been infiltrating sectors of the
Peronist movement in order to win them over to
socialism. In 1968 the PRT adhered to the
Fourth International, based in
Paris. That same year a related organisation was founded in Argentina, the ERP (
People's Revolutionary Army) that became the strongest rural guerrilla movement in
South America during the 1970s. The PRT left the Fourth International in 1973. Both the PRT and the ERP were suppressed by the Argentine military regime during the
Dirty War. ERP commander
Roberto Santucho was killed in July 1976. Owing to the ruthless repression PRT showed no signs of activity after 1977. == Leaders ==