Venezuela: Political Pamphlets

Pamphlets, histories, speeches, programs, obituaries, reports and conference reports issued by Amnesty International, Bandera Roja, Comite Homenaje a Americo Silva, Confederacin General de Trabajadores de Venezuela, COPEI, Curso-Seminario Latinamericano de Cooperativismo-Sindicalismo, Equipo de Formacin, Frente de Liberacin Nacional (FLN), Informacin y Publicaciones (Venezuela), Instituto de Asuntos Internacionales, Juventad del Movimiento al Socialismo, Juventud Venezolana, Ministro de Energa y Minas (Venezuela), Movimiento Obrero de Base (Venezuela), Partido Comunista de Venezuela, Seminario Internacional sobre la Historia del Movimiento Obrero Latinoamericano.

The period of Venezuelan history covered by the majority of the pamphlets currently held in this collection is one dominated politically by the consequences of the 1958 Pact of Punto Fijo. This was an agreement between the main civilian parties of the day, Accion Democrtica (AD), the Partido Social Cristiano de Venezuela (COPEI) and the Unin Republicana Democrtica (URD) on a common programme and an informal sharing power sharing arrangement, which basically saw AD and COPEI alternate in government until 1989. Though this system provided electoral stability, it gradually eroded trust in the democratic process and in the accountability of Venezuela's leaders to the needs of its people, culminating in the 1989 riots precipitated by AD President Carlos Andrs Perz's economic reforms. As well as materials produced by the mainstream parties there are also items originating from left-wing groups and guerrilla organisations ostracised from the political process, trade unions and pressure groups concerned with issues such as the rights of women and indigenous peoples. Venezuela's economy is largely sustained by its state-owned oil industry, and there are several government-produced pamphlets here appertaining to that.

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