Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

446 • MOVEMENT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY LEFTfrom seeking an Islamic republic similar to the Iranian model, torestoration of the 1973 constitution and greater respect for humanrights by the Bahraini government. From 1994 until 1999 the groupconducted small-scale bombings and arson attacks in what theycalled the Bahraini intifada. Upon the ascension of King Hamad binIsa al Khalifa in 1999 and a grant of amnesty to political dissidents,many of the MLB members returned to Bahrain where they enteredinto electoral politics as members of the Al Wefaq National IslamicSociety, while others chose to remain in London.MOVEMENT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY LEFT (MIR). TheMovimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria was a Chilean leftist insurgentgroup and political party sponsored by Cuba that advocatedrevolution to establish a Marxist state in Chile. The MIR also wasgiven the use of radio facilities by Algeria and received more limitedsupport from other states close to Cuba such as Angola, Mozambique,and Nicaragua during the Sandinista period.Founded in 1965 by leftist students at the University of Concepción,the MIR became Castroite in 1967 and obtained Cuba’s moraland material backing. The MIR benefited from an amnesty under thePopular Unity government of President Salvador Gossens Allende(1970–1973) and was allowed to operate openly. The MIR fought themilitary takeover more persistently than did the other Chilean leftistgroups even long after it became apparent that Allende was dead.While the MIR’s recourse to political violence and terrorism couldbe rationalized in the context of the military coup of 11 September1973 and the subsequent violent repression of leftists in Chile, in factits terrorist actions began as far back as 1967 when it undertook armedrobberies, assaults, and murder as a part of its tactical repertoire. Despitethe wide opportunities for legal political participation under theAllende government, the MIR continued to act outside the sphere ofChilean legality by organizing its own militias, carrying out illegalexpropriations of farms and businesses, and assaulting members ofrightist or rival leftist groups. The leaders of the MIR reasoned thatthrough such illegal acts they could compel Allende to advance beyondmere electoral politics, so forcing the establishment of a Marxistrevolutionary state in Chile. In fact, Allende’s reluctance to control theMIR and the far-left wing of his Popular Unity government promptedthe Chilean military to undertake the coup of 11 September 1973.