Ação Popular

Ação Popular was a leftist political organization, founded in June of 1962. It was the result of actions of militant students of the Juventude Universitária Católica, of which Marcos was a member, and other Catholic organizations. To further explain Ação Popular, here is a brief excerpt from We Cannot Remain Silent, by James N. Green:

“Ação Popular (Popular Action)… grew out of various Catholic youth and student organizations and moved toward Marxism, coalescing left-leaning Protestants along the way. In the early 1960s, Ação Popular offered a progressive alternative to the pro-Soviet Communist Party, the Maoist Communist Party of Brazil, and various Trotskyist groupings. Many radical religious youth… declined left-wing political party affiliation, identifying themselves as unattached leftists. Others, like Marcos Arruda, who rejected the moderation of the Communist Party, eventually joined Ação Popular.”