Twentieth-Century Latin American Pamphlets. Part 3

How to search the collection

Guides

The pamphlets are arranged by year of publication, and alphabetically by title within each year. Undated pamphlets are filed at the end of each country group.

Bolivia – reels 1-13

Reels contain 250 pamphlets, spanning the period of 1920-1992, with the bulk of the collection from the 40s and 50s. This section is a rich source for the study of political movements and economic development. Other topics covered by this section are labor, human rights, finance, education, land reform, the Church and indigenous population. Of note is Hacia la unidad de las izquierdas bolivianas, a 1939 pamphlet published by Frente de la Izquierda Revolucionaria (FIB) and describing the statement of purpose and general ideology of the FIB. Two other noteworthy publications are Los fusilamientos del 20 de noviembre de 1944 (1952) by Armando Arce, who analyzes the events leading up to November 20 1944, and Frente de Liberación Nacional (1953) by Jorge La Fuente, a member of the Communist Party. This pamphlet deals with the establishment of a National Liberation Front in Bolivia. The Bolivia section also features Adela y Benito of unknown date, a basic reading lesson from the adult education program of the Confederación Universitaria Boliviana.

Colombia – reels 54-60

Colombia is represented by 151 pamphlets published during the period 1932-1994. Some of the topics represented in this section are labor, history, coffee, feminism, cities, economic development, human rights, agrarian reform, socialism, violence, guerrilla warfare, and political parties. Of note are the Boletín de Acción Social, published in 1945 by the Acción Social political party and describing the purpose of developing cooperatives, Arbitramento del Río Magdalena, published in 1946 and explaining the process of arbitration on navigation on the Magdalena River, La mujer colombiana lucha por una nueva patria, written by Marina Goenaga in 1955, Mensaje al pueblo Colombiano (1957), written by Antonio García and discussing the lack of democracy and human rights in Colombia, and El sacerdote colombiano: Camilo Torres Réstrepo mártir de la causa Cristiana (1969), published by the Unión Internacional de Juventudes Demócrata-Cristianas. Torres Réstrepo, pioneer of the Theology of Liberation movement joined the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, the Colombian guerrilla group and died in 1966.

Ecuador – reels 61-64

The Ecuador section is a fairly small one with 66 pamphlets spanning the years 1922 to 1982. Some of the topics included are socialism, immigration, workers, history, economic development and indigenous affairs. Among the titles included are a copy of Bases del “P.S.E.” published in 1938 by the Socialist Party and written by L. Maldonado Estrada, Segundo congreso de indios ecuatorianos published in 1946 by Federación Ecuatoriana de Indios, and Liberación Popular: manifiesto published in 1963 by the Partido del Pueblo para la Revolución Social.

Peru – reels 70-82

This section contains 258 pamphlets dating from 1918-1996 with the bulk of the pamphlets dating from 1960. The good part of the section is related to the APRA movement or Aprismo. Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre (1895-1979) was the founder and leader of Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA), a Latin American anti-imperialist movement, and he was the principal theorist of Aprismo. Haya de la Torre spent most of his adult life in jail, in exile, or in hiding, even thought he was presidential candidate on three occasions. Of note in this section is Cancionero Aprista, of unknown date, a booklet of Aprista songs. Furthermore a collection of letters from Haya de la Torre to Aprista political prisoners, entitled Cartas de Haya de la Torre a los prisioneros Apristas published in 1946. Other subjects included in this section are: agrarian reform, finance, industries, politics and government, violence, feminism, education, indigenous population, and literature. It also features a collection from 1970 of excerpts from letters from the great poet César Vallejo to Pablo Abril and published by the Juventud Comunista Peruana entitled César Vallejo a Pablo Abril: en el drama de un epistolario, and Flora Tristán la precursora written by Magda Portal and published in 1945. Tristán’s pen name was Flore-Celestine Therèse Henriette Tristán Moscoso, a writer and socialist and precursor of feminism in Latin America for her radical ideas and involvement in the French workers struggles for justice.