The National Revolutionary Militia (Spanish: Milicias Nacionales Revolucionarias) (MNR) is a citizens’ militia in the Republic of Cuba. It was founded in 1959 in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution to protect buildings against sabotage from counter-revolutionary armed groups and any external threat of intervention. Under the command of Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), it was a voluntary group which served as a way to ensure widespread participation in the revolution. While MNR members were often assigned noncombat tasks, they played an important role on the frontline during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and defeating the 1958-1965 counterrevolutionary guerrilla movements in the Escambray mountains.