1989 attack on La Tablada barracks

Attack on La Tablada barracks
Policemen and Army Personnel fire back at MTP rebels
Date 23–24 January 1989 Location La Tablada, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina Result Argentine government victory
Belligerents
Argentine government: Argentine Army Buenos Aires Province Police	Movimiento Todos por la Patria
Commanders and leaders
Raúl Alfonsín Francisco Gassino	Enrique Gorriarán Merlo
Strength
3,600 soldiers and policemen	46 fighters
Casualties and losses
11 killed (9 soldiers and 2 policemen) 53 wounded	28 killed
2 civilians and 1 horse killed 4 civilians wounded

The Battle of La Tablada or the Attack on La Tablada barracks occurred In 1989 when 40 members of Movimiento Todos por la Patria (MTP) attacked the military barracks in La Tablada, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. 39 people were killed and 60 injured by the time the Argentine army retook the barracks. The MTP was commanded by former ERP leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo. It carried out the assault under the alleged pretense of preventing a military coup supposedly planned for the end of January 1989 by the Carapintadas, a group of military officers who opposed the investigations and trials concerning Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983).

The Argentine president of the time, Raúl Alfonsín declared that the attack, which carried the ultimate goal of sparking a massive popular uprising, could have led to a civil war.^[1] Given a life sentence and imprisoned, as his comrades, in high security quarters, Gorriarán Merlo was eventually freed in 2003.^[2][3] He died on 22 September 2006 while awaiting surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm.