Bolivia: Political Pamphlets

Pamphlets, reports, government publications, programs, bulletins, conference proceedings, dossiers, leaflets, communiqus, histories, declarations and manifestos issued by ACLO (Organization), ANPROCA, Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights, Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos de Bolivia, Asociacin de Educacin Radiofnica de Bolivia ERBOL, Association for Education in Journalism, Bolivian Government Ministries, Carrefour International, Catholic Church, Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), Centre d'Information Bolivie, Centro de Informacin y Documentacin de Bolivia, Centro de Investigacin y Promocin del Campesinado, Centro de Produccin Minera (Bolivia), Centro Dermatolgico de Monteagudo, Centro Internacional de Cooperacin para el Desarrollo Agrcola, Comisin de Estudios y Accin Social de la Conferencia Episcopal Boliviana, Comit de Solidaridad para la Defensa de la Democracia en Bolivia, Confederacin Independiente de Campesinos de Bolivia, Confederacin Nacional de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia Tupaj Katari, Congreso de Pueblos y Organizaciones Indias de Sud Amrica (2nd : 1983 : Tiahuanacu, Bolivia), Consejo Indio de Sudamrica, Congreso Nacional Minero (XVI : 1976 : [La Paz]), Corte Nacional Electoral (Bolivia), DIAL, Federacin Departamental de Trabajadores Campesinos de Cochabamba, Frente de Unidad Democratica y Popular (Bolivia), Instituto Promotor de Inversiones en Bolivia, MIR (Revolutionary movement : Bolivia), Movimiento Indio Tupaj Katari, Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (Bolivia), Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario Autntico (Bolivia), Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario de Izquierda (Bolivia), Partido Comunista de Bolivia, Partido Demcrata Cristiano (Bolivia), Partido Socialista-1 (Bolivia), Plenaria Nacional Sindical, Programa Khana Educacin - Promocin - Radio, Radio San Gabriel (La Paz, Bolivia), Segundo Encuentro de Pequeos Productores (1979 : La Paz), Sindicato Minero de Siglo XX, Studie-Aksie Groep Oosterveld v.z.w. (SAGO), Unesco, Unin Nacional de Instituciones para el Trabajo de Accin Social, Unin Nacionalista del Pueblo (Bolivia), United Nations, Universidad Boliviana Tomas Frias' de Potosi, Universidad Mayor de San Andrs, Vanguardia Obrera Comunista, Washington Office on Latin America.

The majority of the materials held here date from the period between 1964 and 1982 when Bolivia, barring a brief period at the end of the 1970s, was under military rule. Despite the expansion of the mining sector and a period of economic growth lasting to the mid-1970s a succession of military leaders continued to use repressive tactics against opposition parties and unions, and following an economic downturn the human rights situation worsened, culminating in the cocaine cartel-financed presidency of General Luis García Meza (1980-1982) in which both paramilitary groups and tactics of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture were used to cow the opposition. This collection includes materials from unions (and union federations such as the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB)), political parties and internal and external human rights pressure groups, as well as government proclamations and pronouncements (mostly regarding the mining industry). There are also reports from groups working with indigenous peoples, as well as material produced by the Catholic Church. The reaction of these organisations to the transition to civilian rule after 1982 and the country's consequent economic problems are also represented in the collection.

In the 1940s and 1950s in Bolivia the Partido Obrero Revolucionario (POR) became one of the few Trotskyist parties in history to gain a mass working class following, and its publications, along with those of its successor organisations following the inevitable schisms are well represented in the materials donated to the collection by Professor James Dunkerley in 2006. These include many of the writings of long-time leader Guillermo Lora and are particularly strong for the period of García Meza's presidency.

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Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

The majority of the materials held in the political archives of the Library of the Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA) originate from the Contemporary Archive on Latin America (CALA), a documentation and research centre on Latin America which donated its holdings to the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) upon its closure in 1981. In 2004 ILAS merged with the Institute of United States Studies (IUSS) to form ISA, which inherited the political archives. The core collection has continued since 1981 to be supplemented by further donations and by materials acquired through the visits of Institute staff and their contacts to the relevant countries.

Further accruals are expected

See also Political Pamphlet material for the rest of Latin America, as well as related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held in the ILAS library.