Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front

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The Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (Spanish: Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez) (FPMR) is a communist guerrilla organization in Chile, named for a figure in Chile's independence movement, Manuel Rodríguez. The group was founded in 1983, during the rule of General Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet had banned the Communist Party of Chile (for which the FPMR served as an armed wing) after overthrowing President Salvador Allende and seizing power in the Chilean coup of 1973.

In September 1986, the FPMR attacked Pinochet's car in an assassination attempt. Five of Pinochet's body guards were killed. Pinochet, however, only suffered minor injuries. Also in 1986, Chilean security forces caught the FPMR smuggling an 80-ton shipment of weapons, including T-4 plastic explosives, RPG-7 and M72 LAW rocket launchers as well as more than three thousand M-16 rifles. The operation was overseen by Cuban intelligence, as well as that of East Germany and the Soviet Union.^{[citation needed]}

After the restoration of democratic rule in Chile in 1991, the FPMR split into two parts: one which returned to seeking change through the political system, and another which continued to advocate armed struggle. The latter faction continued to commit kidnappings and robberies, including the murder of the Independent Democrat Union senator Jaime Guzmán on April 1, 1991 (the suspects escaped to Cuba). Other main targets included Mormon churches and US businesses in Chile such as McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant franchises. [1]