Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla

Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla

Author	Carlos Marighella
Original title	Minimanual do Guerrilheiro Urbano
Subject	revolution
Publication date	June 1969
ISBN	1-894925-02-5

The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla (Brazilian Portuguese: Minimanual do Guerrilheiro Urbano) is a book written by Brazilian Marxist–Leninist revolutionary Carlos Marighella in 1969.^[1] It consists of advice on how to disrupt and overthrow an authoritarian regime, aiming at revolution. The text has been banned in many countries, but remains in print and on bookshelves in several others, including the United States.

It is necessary for every urban guerrilla to keep in mind always that he can only maintain his existence if he is disposed to kill the police and those dedicated to repression, and if he is determined to expropriate the wealth of the big capitalists, the latifundists and the imperialists.

The minimanual was written deliberately to be a concise reference text for would-be revolutionaries and guerrilla fighters. It describes methods and strategies for bringing about a successful revolution, evoking other earlier Marxist–Leninist revolutions, such as the Cuban and Chinese revolutions.

Published five years after the 1964 rise of the Brazilian dictatorship and just one year after the worldwide 1968 student rebellions, and at a time where hopes for international revolution among far-left militants and intellectuals were at their peak. The minimanual became an important tool and reference point for Marxist–Leninist guerrillas, and was also studied extensively by national liberation movements and organizations such as the Sandinistas.