The upsurge of revolutionary activity in Brazil is a product of its chronic structural crisis and resultant political instability.
The urban guerrilla employs weapons in unconventional warfare in his struggle against the military dictatorship. He is a political revolutionary. An ardent patriot. A freedom fighter. A friend of the masses and a lover of freedom. The urban guerrilla's theatre of war is Brazil's large cities. Do not mistake the urban guerrilla for the bandits or outlaws who flourish in the larger cities. Urban guerrillas are often blamed for the acts of these outlaws.
The urban guerrilla, however, is no outlaw. The outlaw benefits personally from his act, robbing equally the exploited and the exploiter. He numbers among his victims the common men and women. In contrast, the urban guerrilla seeks a political goal, targeting only the government, wealthy capitalists, and foreign imperialists, particularly North Americans.
No less dangerous than the outlaw is the right-wing counter-revolutionary who adds to the chaos by robbing banks, hurling bombs, kidnappings, and assassinations. Right-wing counter-revolutionaries commit the worst crimes imaginable against the urban guerrilla, revolutionary priests, students, and all citizens opposing fascism and striving for liberty.
The urban guerrilla is an implacable enemy of the government, systematically inflicting damage on established authority, and those who exercise power to exploit the nation. The urban guerrilla's main task is to confuse, harrass, and demoralize the militarists, the dictatorship, and its repressive forces. It is no less important to destroy the Brazilian rich, the foreign company managers, and the wealth and property of the North Americans.
The urban guerrilla does not fear dismantling and destroying the present Brazilian economic, political, and social system. That is because he joins hands with the social and political order, under the leadership of the armed masses.
Every urban guerrilla needs a minimum of political awareness. He realizes this through the study of printed or copied manuals, such as: