Venceremos (Spanish for "We will be victorious") was an American far-left and primarily Chicano political group active in the Palo Alto, California area from 1969 to 1973. History The organization was founded in 1966 by Aaron Manganiello as a largely Latino left-wing group; it evolved to an increasingly Maoist/Communist brigade. Katerina Del Valle was its chairperson. In 1971 they were joined by a faction of the Maoist organization Revolutionary Union (RU), led by H. Bruce Franklin, a Stanford University English professor. More whites joined the organization through this period. Franklin was fired in 1972 on charges of violating his commitment to the university by "inciting to riot" in 1971. Venceremos and Franklin favored a militant strategy based on protracted urban guerrilla warfare. According to Franklin, "... these collectives had been heavily involved in youth organizing within white proletarian communities, in factory organizing and in anti-imperialist struggles on the campuses. [...] The new combined organization was multi-national, extremely diversified in its activities and base, and quite militant." Venceremos publicly advocated armed self-defense by 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 legal activities, such as working to educate prisoners and defend Vietnam War protesters. The organization's ultimate stated goal was the overthrow of the government. In 1970, Venceremos opened its own community college in a Redwood City storefront; it operated for two years until running out of money. The United States government considered Venceremos a serious political threat, as described in the 202-page House Committee on Internal Security report America's Maoists: the Revolutionary Union, the Venceremos Organization (1972). Venceremos members often participated in City Council and School Board meetings in Palo Alto with a verbal aggressiveness rarely seen before in the city's politics. Member Jeffrey Youdelman was known for offensive shouting down of council members and presenting petitions for radical left causes. Venceremos members ran for local office in Palo Alto, including Jean Hobson and Youdelman who unsuccessfully ran for City Council in 1971 and 1973, respectively. Doug Garrett ran for the School Board. During this period, Venceremos held weekly rallies at Lytton Plaza in Palo Alto, which they dubbed "The People's Plaza." In May 1971, Venceremos's Easter Division drifted away from the center and began organizing through the United Farm Workers union. A small group of Venceremos members attempted to free a federal prisoner