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The most important section of the Minimanual presents what Marighella calls "action models." He suggests that kidnaping be used to "exchange or liberate imprisoned revolutionary comrades," and that the victims range from "a notorious and dangerous enemy of the revolutionary movement" to artists and sports figures whose abduction may be "a useful form of propaganda." In a section headed "Ambush," he notes that the principal object is "to capture the enemy's arms and punish him with death." In "Sabotage," he observes that "a little sand, a trickle of any kind of combustible, a poor lubrication, a screw removed, a short circuit," can all go a long way. Under "Street Tactics," Marighella suggests everything from "marching down streets against traffic" to "throwing bottles, bricks, paperweights and other projectiles from the top of apartment and office buildings." He adds: "Snipers are very good for mass demonstrations."
Marighella's emphasis on terror as a tool for disrupting society borrows, of course, from the destructive spirit of anarchism, with its "propaganda of deed." The current upsurge of terrorist actions, in fact, strongly recalls the last decades of the 19th century, when an anarchistic reign of terror spread a blanket of fear over Europe and the U.S.
Like Marx, Lenin loathed anarchists as undisciplined romantics who disdain all authority. Yet he borrowed some of their ideas. In words that Marighella might have used as a model, Lenin urged revolutionaries "to arm themselves with anything they can lay hands on (a rifle, a gun, a bomb, a knife, a stick, a kerosene-drenched rag to set fire with, a rope or a rope ladder, a spade to build barricades, barbed wire, nails against cavalry, etc.). To start training for war immediately, by means of practical operations: killing a spy, blowing up a police station, robbing a bank to provide funds for the uprising, etc." Concluded Lenin: "Let every detachment train for action—be it only by beating up a policeman."
As the old political structures began crumbling, Lenin's tactics were successfully grafted onto the guerrilla movements that arose in such places as China, Cuba and Viet Nam. But the theorists of these movements, including Che, his follower Régis Debray and Frantz Fanon (The Wretched of the Earth), generally overlooked the urban guerrilla and concentrated on the peasant.
According to the Minimanual, the urban guerrilla should "be a good walker, be able to stand up against fatigue, hunger and heat, never act impetuously, have unlimited patience, remain calm and cool and, above all, not get discouraged." Marighella recommends that this durable soul get in shape by "hiking, camping, mountain climbing, rowing, fishing and hunting." Additionally, he notes: "It is very important to learn how to drive, pilot a plane, handle a motorboat and have some knowledge of electronic techniques."
Along with the dos are some don'ts. Under the heading, "Seven Sins of the Urban Guerrilla," Marighella lists "inexperience, boasting, vanity, exaggeration of his strength, lack of patience, anger and a failure to plan properly."