Editing Mateo Villanueva (section)

===Party Leader & Revolution===
As Leader of the Communist Party, Villanueva grew the party from a movement concentrated in Costeno province to a nationwide political force, viewed as the greatest threat by the Liberal Party. In February 1952, the Liberal Party offered concessions to the Communist Party in exchange for them withdrawing support for a General Strike that had hugely disrupted the Lauchenoirian economy. These were rejected by Villanueva. 

Following this, the Liberal government banned the Communist Manifesto from being distributed, and introduced legislation requiring the government to approve all protests, allowing them to reject applications from communist organisations. The Communist Party became more militant, and though Villanueva initially did not appear to support violence, some historians have suggested this was a tactical move. His deputy, [[Sophie Ross]], was the main voice in calling for violent action. She later succeeded him as president.

On the 12th July 1952, the Communist Party held a rally outside of Parliament without permission, led by Villanueva. He called for the Communists to storm Parliament and take power by force. This lead to a nine-day war after which factions of the military remaining loyal to the Liberal administration surrendered to the stronger Communist forces. Villanueva became President on the 21st July 1952.