Panama: Political Pamphlets

Pamphlets, reports, analyses, histories, letters issued by Bishops' Conference of Panama, CEASPA, Centro de Estudios Econmico-Sociales(CEES), Congreso General Extraordinario Guaym de Soloy, Chiriqu (1980), Congreso General Guaym de Kankint, Bocas del Toro (1st : 1979), Congreso Interamericano de Planification (10th : 1974 : Panama), Dilogo Social, Ecumenical Program for Inter-American Communication and Action, Equipo Promocin de la Mujer, Fe y Alegra (Organization), Instituto Cooperativo Interamericano. Seminar (25th : 1978 : Panam), Institute of Torrijista Studies, Junta Militar de Gobierno (Panama), Ministerio de Desarrollo Agropecuario (Panama), Movimiento Campesino de Panama, Survival International, United States Dept. of Defense.

The majority of the materials in the collection at present date from the 1970s and 1980s, during which time Panama, despite a democratic faade, was effectively ruled by the military. During the 1970s increasing Panamanian discontent with the 1903 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Canal Treaty led eventually to its renegotiation with the United States in 1977, and it is the canal, these treaties and their consequences for the economy, society and independence of Panama which dominate the content of these items. Bodies from which the items originate include the military junta, the US government, NGOs and homegrown oppositional movements. The increasing repressiveness of the Panamanian regime under Noriega coupled with the post-1982 economic problems of the country are also alluded to in the materials held here, with the plight of the indigenous population in particular being highlighted.

Randomly within boxes (at present)

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 other countries in the region, as well as related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held in the ISA library.