radman says:
Ask and ye shall receive. The author below found my inquiry in the
sixties-l archives and emailed me privately. I have received his permission
to post the following.
=============================================
PATRICK ARGUELLO (1943-70) 1960's Internationalist
On September 6, 1970, the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine hijacked three airplanes to
free captured members and bring attention to their
cause. The hostage crisis on an abandoned airstrip in
Jordan captured world attention. That same day, a
fourth attempted hijack of an Israeli El Al flight
failed. The male hijacker was killed, and the female
hijacker was taken into custody by British authorities
when the Israeli plane made an emergency landing in
London. She was identified as Leila Khaled, a
Palestinian guerrilla famous for a previous hijacking
in 1969.
The slain hijacker was later identified as Patrick
Arguello Ryan, a 27-year-old man of
Nicaraguan-American background. Questions abounded:
Who was he and how did he come to be involved with the
Palestinians? Many assumed he was merely a radical
embracing a revolutionary cause, a leftist student
like so many of that era. Some called him an
internationalist hero like Che Guevara, while others
called him a cold-blooded terrorist like Carlos the
Jackal.
The truth about Patrick Arguello is far more complex.
Patrick was a member of Nicaragua's Sandinista National
Liberation Front. He died in an obscure chapter of
Sandinista history: their 1970 collaboration with
Palestinian guerrillas.
Patrick Arguello's own life, albeit short, was
eventful. He was the child of an American mother and a
Nicaraguan father, and spent his childhood in
Nicaragua. But in 1957, his family was wrongly
suspected of involvement in the assassination of
Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, and forced to
flee to the United States. Patrick spent his teenage
and early adult years in Los Angeles, during a time of
political changes such as the Cuban revolution and
the U.S. civil rights movement.
Patrick obtained a Fullbright scholarship to study in
Chile in 1967-68. It was a time of great ferment in
Chile, which culminated in the 1970 election of
Leftist President Salvador Allende. When Patrick
returned to Nicaragua, he worked with the
Nicaraguan student movement. He hoped to join the
Sandinista National Liberation Front.
In August 1969, the Somoza government exiled Patrick
for his political activities. He subsequently went
to Europe and became involved with an FSLN cell there.
The FSLN began to collaborate with various factions
of the Palestinian guerrilla movement, known as
Fedayeen,in order to receive military training for a
group of Sandinista recruits. Patrick Arguello was
part of a small group of Nicaraguans who trained in
Jordan and participated in the planning of the
September hijackings. This hijacking would lead to his
death.
I am currently researching the biography of Patrick
Arguello.His life and death are an inspiring story of
the idealism and violence of his times. At present I
have a manuscript and am looking for a publisher. If
anyone has any input or suggestions, feel free to
contact me at <myurow@yahoo.com>. Thanks.
-end-
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