Narrative
Narrative of the Organization's History
Narrative of the Organization's History
Leadership, Name Changes, Size Estimates, Resources, Geographic Locations
Ideology, Aims, Political Activities, Targets, and Tactics
First Attacks, Largest Attacks, Notable Attacks
Foreign Designations and Listings, Community Relations, Relations with Other Groups, State Sponsors and External Influences
Mapping relationships with other militant groups over time in regional maps
The Red Brigades Fighting Communist Party (BR-PCC), like the Red Brigades and all of its successors, sought to overthrow the Italian democratic capitalist state and replace it with a dictatorship of the proletariat. The BR-PCC differed with the BR's other successors over strategy, tactics, and organization, however. In particular, the BR-PCC was considered more strictly "Leninist" than the other groups in its embrace of strict hierarchy and centrally-planned, as opposed to spontaneous, attacks.[14]
Its specific demands included Italy's withdrawal from NATO, a halt to the construction of missile installations in Sicily, and the withdrawal of a multinational peacekeeping force from Lebanon.[15]
The BR-PCC attacked traditional left-wing targets such as politicians. It appears not to have focused on law enforcement targets, though the group did kill two policemen, perhaps by accident, while robbing a bank.[16]
The BR-PCC emphasized America as a primary enemy and symbol of international capitalism and imperialism. It advocated the creation of a multinational Anti-Imperialist Fighting Front that would unite anti-American fighters, especially from Lebanon, Palestine, Iran, and Libya.[17] Domestically, the BR-PCC staged two high-profile attacks against Americans in Italy, kidnapping one and killing the other. Though other groups on the left had condemned the U.S. as a capitalist imperialist power and had demanded Italy's exit from NATO, the BR-PCC appears to be the only Italian left-wing terrorist group to have successfully attacked Americans in Italy.
Disclaimer: These are some selected major attacks in the militant organization's history. It is not a comprehensive listing but captures some of the most famous attacks or turning points during the campaign.
December 17, 1981: Members of the BR-PCC kidnapped a high-ranking NATO official and American Brigadier General James Lee Dozier. Italian police freed Dozier in a raid in January 1982. (0 killed)[18]
May 3, 1983: Members of the BR-PCC wounded a member of the Italian Socialist Party in Rome. (0 killed)[19]
February 15, 1984: Members of the BR-PCC killed U.S. diplomat Leamon Hunt in Rome. (1 killed)[20]
February 10, 1986: Members of the BR-PCC killed a former mayor, citing his investments in the defense industry, in Florence. (1 killed)[21]
February 14, 1987: Members of the BR-PCC killed two policemen in the course of a robbery in Rome. (2 killed)[22]
April 16, 1988: Members of the BR-PCC killed an Italian senator. (1 killed)[23]
The BR-PCC was one of three main groups that split from the Red Brigades following its decline in the 1980s. The BR-PCC was a rival of the other main splinter groups, the Red Brigades-Walter Alasia and the Red Brigades-Guerilla Party. Those groups criticized the BR-PCC for being too orthodox and too focused on militancy over other forms of political expression. The dispute between the groups was mostly rhetorical,[24] however, and they did not attack each other.
The BR-PCC split again beginning in 1985, leading to the formation of the Union of Communist Combatants (UdCC). The UdCC, like the BR's other offshoots, advocated a less militaristic approach to the revolution, and broader participation from the masses.[25]
[1] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[2] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[3] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. pp. 69-71
[4] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[5] Weinberg, Leonard, and William Lee Eubank. The Rise and Fall of Italian Terrorism. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987. p. 70
[6] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[7] Segio, Sergio. Una Vita In Prima Linea. 1. ed. Milano: Rizzoli, 2006. p. 194.
[8] National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (2011). Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd; Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate rosse -- PCC (1981-1988)." Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[9] Singer, Daniel. "The Bloody Cul-de-Sac," "The Nation," October 24, 1994. Citing "Mario Moretti: Brigate Rosse. Una storia Italiana," Anabasi; National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). (2011). Global Terrorism Database [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd
[10] Brigaterosse.org, page on Barbara Balzerani. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/personaggi/BarbaraBalzerani.htm
[11] Westcott, Kathryn. "Italy's History of Terror." BBC News Online. Last updated January 6, 2004. Available: http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/2/hi/europe/3372239.stm
[12] Curcio, Renato (ed.). La Mappa Perduta. Roma: Sensibili alle foglie, 1994. p. 208.
[13] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism In Italy : an Update Report, 1983-1985 : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism for the Use of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1985. pp. 5-6.
[14] Drake, Richard. The Aldo Moro Murder Case. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995. pp. 134-135.
[15] Pisano, Vittorfranco S. Terrorism In Italy : an Update Report, 1983-1985 : Report of the Subcommittee On Security and Terrorism for the Use of the Committee On the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1985. p. 3.
[16] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[17] Drake, Richard. The Aldo Moro Murder Case. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995. p. 150
[18] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[19] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[20] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[21] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[22] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[23] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm
[24] Drake, Richard. The Aldo Moro Murder Case. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995. p. 134
[25] Brigaterosse.org. "Le Brigate Rosse - PCC (1981-1988)." Last updated September 11, 2005. Available: http://www.brigaterosse.org/brigaterosse/storia/pcc.htm and Karmon, Ely. "The Red Brigades: Cooperation with the Palestinian Terrorist Organization (1970–1990)." International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), 2001. Available: http://212.150.54.123/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=365