The 19th of April Movement (), or M-19, was a Colombian urban guerrilla movement active in the late 1970s and 1980s. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (), or AD/M-19. The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of 19 April 1970, where the left-wing populist National Popular Alliance (ANAPO) of former military dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was defeated by the National Front, a power sharing coalition of the two main establishment parties. M-19 initially proclaimed itself the armed wing of ANAPO, though party leaders denied any association. The ideology of the M-19 was revolutionary nationalism, but its main aim was to open up electoral democracy in Colombia. It was inspired by other South American urban guerrilla groups, such as the Tupamaros in Uruguay and the Montoneros in Argentina. At its height in the mid-1980s, the M-19 was the second largest guerrilla group in Colombia (after the FARC), with the number of active members estimated at between 1,500 and 2,000. Its actions during this period included the theft of Bolívar's sword as well as the Palace of Justice siege. The group demobilized in the late 1980s and transitioned to electoral politics, though many of its key leaders would be assassinated. The M-19 Democratic Alliance merged with ANAPO in 2003 to form the Independent Democratic Pole party, the predecessor of today's Alternative Democratic Pole. Other former members joined various left-wing parties, including the Green Alliance and Humane Colombia, the latter formed by ex-member Gustavo Petro. Petro would go on to unite these parties in his Pacto Histórico coalition, which won the 2022 elections to form Colombia's current governing coalition. Armed activity The M-19's history may be divided into two parts: the first was a failed armed revolutionary struggle during the early to mid-1980s, while the second was a relatively constructive reincorporation into civil society and political life during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Theft of Bolívar's sword Among the actions performed by the M-19, some significant events stand out. In a highly symbolic action, the M-19 stole one of the swords of Simon Bolivar from a museum in 1974, an event which was used by the group to symbolize what they called a civilian uprising against a regime perceived as unjust. M-19 promised to return the sword by 18 December 1990, the 160th anniversary of Bolivar's death. But the organization was