Venceremos was a radical political group formed in 1971 by Stanford University Professor H. Bruce Franklin and various other members of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Revolutionary Union. The group took its name from the battle cry of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a revolutionary communist leader from Argentina and high ranking member of Fidel Castro's communist regime in Cuba.
Venceremos advocated armed self-defense of the citizenry, community control of the police, and reform of the prison system. To these ends, the group's members engaged in a number of legitimate activities, such as working to educate prisoners and defend war protesters. They also participated in various anti-war demonstrations that invariably erupted into violence.
