Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) (Movement of the Revolutionary Left) is a Chilean political party. The group emerged from various student organziations in the late 1960s and established a base of support among the trade unions and shantytowns of Santiago. Andrés Pascal Allende, a nephew of Salvador Allende, president of Chile from 1970 to 1973, was one of its early leaders.

MIR considered itself a revolutionary vanguard and avocated a Marxist-Leninist model of revolution in which it would lead the working class to a "dictatorship of the proletariat".

Although MIR built up small arsenals of light arms, it never undertook violent actions during Allende's term in office. However, the organization did try to infiltrate the Chilean Armed Forces in anticipation of a military coup against Allende. This is may explain the vigorous and brutal elimination of armed forces personnel who were suspected of being sympathetic to Allende after Augusto Pinochet came to power in September, 1973.

After Chile's return to democracy in 1980, the party was resurrected.

External link

• Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria website (in Spanish)