top6/17/2013
Terrorist Organization Profile: |
|
| Brigate Rosse (BR) | |
| Armed Communist Combatants, Italian Red Brigade, Red Regiments | |
| n/a | |
| 1969 | |
| Group is inactive | |
| Communist/Socialist | |
| Unknown | |
| The Red Brigades were founded on rigidly Marxist-Leninist principles. This radical leftist group advocated violence in the pursuit of class warfare. Concentrated in Italy, the Red Brigades targeted businessmen and politicians and were a notable terrorist threat in Italy during the 1970s and early 1980s. Due to developments during its existence, the Red Brigades took on some qualities of anarchist groups while still propagating its especially virulent and violent Communist philosophy. In the end, the Red Brigades' increasingly brutal attacks eroded the support of those sympathetic with the group's Communist ideals. | |
| In April 1984, four of the Red Brigades' key leaders wrote a communique from their jail cells. In the open letter, the leaders proclaimed further armed combat as futile. The Red Brigades essentially ceased to exist with this letter. In their words, "The international conditions that made this struggle possible no longer exist." (Xavier Raufer, "The Red Brigades: Farewell to Arms," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 1993, Vol.16) However, the legacy of the Red Brigades continues to this day. Following the release of this letter, two splinter groups broke off from the Red Brigades: the New Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party (BR/PCC) and the Red Brigades/Union of Combatant Communists (BR/UCC). The BR/PCC specifically has chosen to continue in the ideological and violent path of the Red Brigades. |
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Key Leaders
- Bertulazzi, Leonardo
- Curcio, Renato
- Franceschini, Alberto
- Loiacono, Alvaro
- Moretti, Mario
- Savasta, Antonio
Related Groups
- Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction -- Ally
- New Red Brigades/Communist Combatant Party -- Splinter Group
- Popular Forces of April 25 -- Ally (Suspected)
U.S. Government Designations
| No | |
| No | |
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Learn more about these U.S. Department of State classifications: Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) |
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Other Governments' Designations
| No | |
| No | |
| No | |
| No | |
| No |
Global Terrorism Database
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