Fatherland and Liberty

The Fatherland and Liberty Nationalist Front (Spanish: Frente Nacionalista Patria y Libertad or simply Patria y Libertad, PyL) was a Chilean fascist, political and paramilitary group that fought against the democratically elected Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende, in Chile.

The group was formed by Pablo Rodríguez Grez in 1970 with Roberto Thieme as secretary general, and turned more and more clandestine throughout the presidency of Salvador Allende.

In June 1973, the group attempted to carry out a coup against the Allende government but failed, in an event known as the Tanquetazo. In July 1973, it received orders from the Chilean Navy, which opposed the Schneider Doctrine of military adherence to the constitution, to sabotage Chile's infrastructure. The collaboration between Fatherland and Liberty and the Chilean Armed Forces increased after the failed October 1972 strike which had sought to overthrow Allende socialist administration. In agreement with the sectors opposing Allende in the military, the group assassinated on 26 July 1973 Allende's naval aide, Arturo Araya Peeters. The first sabotage was committed this same day. Others include creating a power outage while Allende was being broadcast.

It was officially disbanded on September 12, 1973, following Pinochet's coup. Many members of PyL were then recruited by Chilean security services and participated in the persecution of those opposed to Pinochet's junta. Still others like Roberto Thieme became convinced opponents of the regime (Thieme in particular opposed the neo-liberal economic policies under Pinochet). Since the transition to democracy, some small groups have since claimed to be its successor, but are not officially linked to the original PyL.