Hispanic National Liberation Army

  

Hispanic National Liberation Army
Ejército Hispanica de la Liberación Nacional
Flag of the EHLN
Active	1971
Ideology	Hispanic nationalism Antillean Independence intercommunalism revolutionary socialism anti-colonialism
Headquarters	Jarabacoa
Strength	between 1,000 and 1,800
Allies	United People's Committees South Mexico (until 1995) Bolivia RCCP MLNH
Opponents	Federalist Party of the Antilles Antillean Army Ku Klux Klan
Battles and wars	Battle of Monte Tina, Cordillero Uprising

The Hispanic National Liberation Army (Spanish: Ejército Hispanica de la Liberación Nacional), colloquially known as the Hispanic Resistance, is a left-wing nationalist insurgent group in the Antilles that is primarily active in central and western Hispaniola. The group emerged in the 1970s as a merger between several other pro-Hispanic militias shortly after the defeat of the Cuban insurgency in order to provide armed resistance against racial segregation and forced cultural assimilation. The group earned the nickname "Los Macheteros" not only due to the machete on their flag but also because it is one of the standard weapons used by the guerilleros, many of whom come from poor rural areas in the interior of Hispaniola.

History

Founding

Before the EHLN was founded in 1971, the Hispanophone anti-Federalist movement was split between three major groups: the social democratic United Dominican Popular Movement, the more radical Landonist May 9th Movement and the Catholic National Salvation Front, of which the latter two were the largest. These groups would act independent from one another until the Cuban insurgency reached its peak around 1960, when a coalition between the three groups were formed in the hopes of defeating the Antillean forces by opening a second front, achieving both Cuban and Hispaniolan independence from Federalist rule. While factionalism and internal disputes lead to the defeat of the Cuban uprising and ultimately dealt a heavy blow to the Hispanic Resistance. To make up for the losses and establish a more effective leadership the three organizations would form the Coalition for a Free Hispaniola in 1969 with an equal amount of representatives from each organization in the leadership. The coalition would finally merge under its current name in 1971.

Early years

During the highly anti-Hispanic and dictatorial rule of Amelia Abarough, violence against Hispanophone and Creole opponents in particular was a daily occurrence. The violence further escalated after workers on a sugarcane field demanded better working conditions after a worker lost his arm in an accident. The strike was forcibly ended after the landlord who has hired strikebreakers has ordered to beat the strikers if necessary to death, resulting in several severely wounded plantation workers and a dead teenager, other strikers were sent off to concentration camps. Word of this event spread in the Hispanic community within a matter of days and the newly formed EHLN promised to retaliate against the government and the landlords and opened its ranks to every adult Hispaniolan that owns a machete or rifle. Retaliation came in form of an attack against a police station in Saint James in 1972 where during a change of shifts EHLN guerrelleros entered the police station and opened fire, killing 15 and injuring 23. Though the perpetrators were killed by the policemen this attack shocked the nation because of its ruthlessness and unexpectedness. The EHLN began to start a propaganda campaign within areas where there still was a Hispanic majority or plurality, calling for sabotage and civil disobedience. In the meantime the EHLN began an urban warfare campaign in these areas. It was reported that it was virtually impossible for a police patrol to enter the Hispanic areas of Saint James without getting fired at immediately. This was combined with an extensive intimidation campaign targeting white settlers in the countryside.

Cordillera insurgency

The Cordillera Insurgency as the period between 1973 and 1984 became known was defined by extreme violence between the EHLN on one side and the settlers and government on the other. The parishes of Lee, Washington and Stonewall were heavily effected by the uprising which began to rise in popularity due to the rural and secluded area and the large Hispanic population that was sympathetic to the EHLN. White landlords and settlers were harassed by the Resistance and clashed constantly, as the EHLN promised support if the plantation workers and farmers would organize an illegal strike. The insurgency reached its peak in 1976 when, with official Andean support the clandestine group would begin using large caliber weapons and professionally crafted explosives against the police, establishing a firm stronghold and using brute force against landlords who refused to pay "revolutionary taxes" and did not comply to new laws imposed by the EHLN in their regions. More violence ensued when Haitian Nationalists formed a militant movement of their own, named the Haitian National Liberation Movement which was declared a sister organization of the EHLN shortly after. During the later stage of the insurgency in 1980, EHLN guerrillas would encounter the army on multiple occasions with a major battle at Monte Tina that resulted in a pyrrhic victory and eventual retreat of the Antillean army. Morale would be at an all-time high in the camp of the insurgency supporters as it became apparent that at least in the interior the Antillean army could be defeated. Around the same time a terror campaign against the segregation system began which lead to high numbers in casualties on the side of the Hispanic Resistance as mass shootings and suicide bombing that targeted segregated, white-only businesses and establishments. The effectiveness of these methods in regards of aiding the abolishment of the segregation shortly after Amelia Abarough's death in 1983 is disputed, but it is generally agreed upon that the warnings many European and Anglo-American governments issued towards tourists and civilians who considered travelling to Hispaniola had a noticeable impact on the economy of Hispaniola.

Ideology

In its program, known as the "Manifesto of the Hispanic Resistance", the EHLN formulates the basic principles of its foundation which consist of three primary aspects: nationalism, socialism and democracy. These principles can, according to the EHLN, only be achieved through a violent revolution and eventual expulsion of the "Occupying forces". The guiding principles also determine the EHLN's concrete goals in the following ways: The manifesto states that non-Continental culture is to be protected and revived in a "progressive manner" through Hispanic nationalism with efforts of making Spanish, Creole and French the official languages of government and eventually day to day life of an independent Hispaniolan republic. Further, landlords are to be expropriated and adequate housing shall be a right for every Hispaniolan, with land ownership being limited to independent producers or cooperating farmers. Food, healthcare and education are to be guaranteed by the government. The EHLN aims to restructure the government as well, replacing the First-past-the-post voting system with a proportional representation system. Additionally a system of labor unions, farmer associations and plebiscites would deal with politics on a local level and advise the national government. On social matters the Hispanic Resistance positions itself as progressive; they support the legalization of labor unions, same-sex marriages and extensive rights for the LGBT-Community while opposing any form of racial segregation and cultural chauvinism. Catholic social teaching also plays a role in the reasoning behind the Resistance's ideas, especially in the form of liberation theology that obliges Christians to oppose any form of social or economic oppression. It should be noted however that despite aligning itself with the Haitian independence movement, the EHLN advocates for a multinational state in which both Hispanics and Haitians enjoy a high degree of autonomy and live together in solidarity according to the principle "One state, two peoples". The EHLN argues that due to decades of colonization and deportation the ethnic and cultural borders have been blurred and a hard border would only contribute to conflict between the inhabitants of Hispaniola.