The urban guerrilla is by nature both brazen and decisive. He must be experienced at tactics and an expert marksman. To compensate for few arms, little ammunition, and poor equipment, the urban guerrilla must have initiative and be astute.
Professional military units and national police can travel anywhere in the country, using their modern transport and heavy arms. Since the urban guerrilla does not have these advantages, he resorts to clandestine or secret ways. Some urban guerrillas are convicted felons, while others are free on parole. These must use forged identification papers.
In spite of these limitations, the urban guerrilla boasts certain advantages over the national armed forces and police, He has the support of the masses.
The nation's military and police authorities act on behalf of powerful interests and the wealthy, and against the best interests of the masses. It is they whom the masses hate, The urban guerrilla, on the other hand, defends a just cause -the cause of the masses.
Where the urban guerrilla's weapons are inferior, he gains through moral superiority. In moral superiority the urban guerrilla has undeniable superiority.
Moral superiority sustains the urban guerrilla. Moral superiority allows the guerrilla to attack and survive, and to succeed in his main objective.
The urban guerrilla obtains his weapons by stealing them or capturing them from the enemy. Since he cannot pick and choose, urban guerrillas must make do with a variety of different makes and types of weapons. There is also normally a shortage of ammunition for this great variety of weapons. Moreover, the urban guerrilla has no safe area in which to engage in target practice and improve his marksmanship.
All these limitations must be overcome through imagination and creativity. Without these qualities, the urban guerrilla cannot function as a revolutionary.
The urban guerrilla must maintain the initiative, being mobile and flexible. These attributes, along with versatility, allow him to take command of any situation. initiative is a particularly indispensable quality. Every contingency cannot be foreseen, and in the confusion of attack, the urban guerrilla cannot wait for orders from above. His duty is to act, not to delay or give up. He solves problems as they arise. It is better to act in error, than not to act at all. Without initiative urban guerrilla warfare is impossible.
Additional qualities that make the ideal urban guerrilla require that he be able to march long distances, overcome fatigue, fight on an empty stomach, and operate in all kinds of weather -- from torrential rain to stifling heat. The urban guerrilla also knows how to remain vigilant, and to hide himself. He does not allow himself to go to pieces, no matter how great the strain or danger. Nor is he impatient or discouraged. Even under the most distressing conditions, the urban guerrilla acts calm and cool, never failing in the quest of his ultimate goal.
Faced with the almost insurmountable difficulties of urban warfare, some comrades weaken in their resolve, or desert the movement, abandoning their revolutionary work. But the urban guerrilla must remember that he is not a businessman making money, nor is he playacting. Like the rural guerrilla, the urban guerrilla pledges to himself his revolutionary resolve. It is better that the urban guerrilla never become one if he lacks the ability to overcome all difficulties and patience to follow his difficult course to the end. Those who lack patience and resolve were never destined to become urban guerrillas.