Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

494 • NEW WORLD LIBERATION FRONTPhilippines House of Representatives, Satur Ocampo, was arrestedon charges relating to murders of NPA cadres purged in the 1980s.On 5 September 2007 Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyoissued an amnesty proclamation for members of the NPA and theNational Democratic Front, but the amnesty was only applicable foracts of rebellion in the name of political beliefs and not for crimescommitted for personal ends or as forms of organized crime, such askidnapping for ransom or drug trafficking.NEW WORLD LIBERATION FRONT (NWLF). The NWLF was anonstate Californian anarchistic leftist group active in the 1970s thatengaged in bombings for the limited purpose of protesting againstcorporate power. The NWLF declared that it sought relief for poorpeople and “to demonstrate that, in unity through armed struggle,poor people can and will win.” The Front later also declared its supportfor Puerto Rican separatists.The Front was founded in 1973 in the San Francisco Bay Area andbegan its career on 3 September 1974 by bombing the offices of theInternational Telephone and Telegraph company to protest that firm’salleged involvement in the coup toppling the Salvador Allende governmentin Chile. In its first year the NWLF claimed credit for a total of23 bombings, with numerous attacks against other public utilities andprivate firms, including General Motors, Standard Oil, Pacific Gas andElectric Company, and Union Oil Company. By 1979, the NWLF hadcarried out almost 100 bombings in the San Francisco Bay Area. Therewas evidence that remnants of the Symbionese Liberation Army(SLA) entered the NWLF after the main cell of the SLA had beensmashed. At most there were about 25 members in the NWLF, mainlymiddle-class whites with a few black ex-convicts.Like many other left-wing groups, such as the United FreedomFront or Armed Resistance Unit, the NWLF tended to pick symbolictargets for bombings, to target property rather than human life, andto use the terrorist event as armed propaganda for specific issuesor causes rather than as direct military tactics to achieve revolution.Therefore the NWLF used to give frequent press conferences throughits front, the People’s Information Relay No. 1 (PIR-1). In September1979, however, the two core members who founded the group quarreled,leading one to murder the other, for which he was arrested, soending the NWLF.