The most frequently employed tactic is bank assault. In Brazil, the urban guerrilla has developed bank assaults into a fine art. Today we employ bank assaults regularly, frequently using this tactical operation as a means of introducing urban guerrilla apprentices into the tactics of revolutionary warfare.

We have incorporated important innovations into the tactics of bank assault, guaranteeing escape, expropriation of funds, and anonymity of the men involved. Among these innovations are shooting the tires of vehicles to prevent pursuit, locking bank employees and customers in bathrooms, forcing them to sit on the floor, immobilizing and disarming guards, forcing an official to open the safe, and making maximum use of various disguises.

When a bank assault is political in nature, and is carried out in accordance with recognized urban guerrilla warfare tactics, such defenses as bank alarms, guards, and electronic detection devices prove fruitless. Our tactics use new innovative approaches to counter the enemy's defenses. New tactics involve proper use of our firepower, which is increasing daily, as well as employing larger assault teams. When planned to the last detail, our operations are guaranteed success.

Bank assault is a common method of expropriation. As in any form of expropriation, the revolutionary is handicapped by two forms of competitors: (a) competition from the bandit; and, (b) competition from right wing counter-revolutionaries. Competition causes confusion and uncertainty among the masses. The urban guerrilla employs two methods to correct this condition:

1. He avoids bandit tactics by declining unnecessary violence and refusing to take money or goods from the innocent masses; and,
2. He combines propaganda with assault, even while it is taking place. He later distributes leaflets explaining that the expropriation is directed only against the government, the ruling class, and imperialism.