with the Democratic Left coalition. AVC first received national attention in 1983, when it broke into a museum and stole swords which had been used by Eloy Alfaro. Some of the group's leaders were thought to be affiliated with Cuba, Libya and Nicaragua, and the group itself was linked to militant groups from other Latin-American countries, such as the M-19 and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, establishing a joint operations group called America Battalion with these two groups. From 1986 to 1987, AVC carried out several kidnappings, robbed banks and a factory, took over a number of radio stations in order to broadcast their manifesto, and killed four police officers while retrieving a group member from police custody. In response to this activity, the government began carrying out raids against the group. The group's leader Arturo Jarrin was killed during a shootout with government forces in October 1986. By 1987, a large number of AVC's leaders and members had either been killed or arrested. In 1989, the government of Ecuador reached an agreement with AVC, with the group agreeing to end its violence. In 1991, the group officially reformed as a legitimate political party. One year later, eight group members made an illegal, but non-violent entry into the British Embassy in Quito, demanding the release of a group leader who was then imprisoned by the Ecuadorian government. Robbery of the sword of Eloy Alfaro The first operation to receive extensive media coverage was the theft of the swords of Eloy Alfaro and Pedro José Montero from the Municipal Museum of Guayaquil, on August 11. In January 2012, Rosa Mireya Cárdenas, who served as Secretary of Peoples, as a delegate of former AVC members, she returned the swords to the then President of Ecuador Rafael Correa. 1983-1985 Since the beginning of 1983, the AVC carried out a large number of operations, which included actions such as bank robberies and graffiti, seeking in this way to achieve loudness in the media, which according to the AVC, were controlled by the "right". The first National Conference is held between February 12 and 14, 1983 in Tonsupa Esmeraldas, where the "Eloy Alfaro People's Revolutionary Forces" are constituted, under the Slogan "Alfaro Lives, Dammit". On March 11, an attempt was made to assault the payer of Casa Baca (Quito), as a result of which Ricardo Merino and Vicente López were arrested. On July 8, the