The Kataris 26 was a Bolivian Indigenist and communist political movement and armed group that waged war against the Bolivian government and the Santa Blanca Cartel during the 2010s.
Named for the 18th-century Indian freedom fighter Tupac Katari, Kataris 26 was founded by Pac Katari, while it was given ideological direction by his uncle Amaru. Kataris 26 was founded in 2013 as a Maoist-influenced communist movement advocating for the interests of the rural peasantry, and indigenous cocaleros resistant to the Santa Blanca Cartel's takeover of the coca-growing industry provided a broad base of support for the rebel faction. For six years, Kataris 26 fought the cartel and the government alone, but the United States covertly aided the group starting in 2019 with Operation Kingslayer. The relationship between Kataris 26 and the American Ghost Recon team was awkward; while the Americans won several victories against the cartel with the rebels' help and gave credit for their victories to Pac Katari's fighters, the rebels' nationalism, socialism, and involvement with drug trafficking (in conjunction with Peruvian rebels) caused friction with the US government.
After much of the cartel was destabilized, Pac Katari turned on the Ghosts so he could free the country without outside influence, and he murdered his uncle Amaru and other rebels who disagreed with his double-crossing of his American allies. Ultimately, Pac Katari was killed in a failed attempt on the life of Santa Blanca leader Rodrigo Carlos Pérez Morales, and his and Amaru's deaths led to Kataris 26 falling into infighting and factionalism. The 2019 Bolivian coup d'etat, caused in part by an expose that forced the president and most of the government to resign or be arrested, enabled Kataris 26 to negotiate with the new government and lay down its arms.
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