Guatemala: Political Pamphlets

Calendar, annuals, pamphlets, magazines, reports, bulletins, newspaper advertisements, journals, declarations, and conference reports issued by 500 Aos de Resistencia Indgena y Popular, Americas Watch Committee (U.S.), Amnesty International, Asociacin Centroamericana de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos, Asociacin de Servicios Integrados para el Desarrollo de Centro Amrica, Association Guatemala Infomation Recherche, Banco National de la Vivienda (Guatemala), Brigada de Solidaridad 'Farabundo Mart', British Parliamentary Human Rights Group, Catholic Church, Centre tricontinental (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), Centro de Desarrollo Integral, Centro Victor Sanabria, Colectivo de Solidaridad con el Pueblo de Guatemala, Comisin de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala, Comit de Unidad Campesina (Guatemala), Comit Guatemalteco de Lucha por la Paz, Comit Guatemalteco de Unidad Patritica, Comit pro Justicia y Paz de Guatemala, Comunidad Educativa de Centroamerica, Comunidades de Poblacin en Resistencia (Guatemala), Consejo de Comunidades Etnicas Runujel Junam (Guatemala), Consejo Mundial de Iglesias, Consejo Nacional de Paz y Solidaridad, Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala, Coordinadora Nacional Indgena y Campesina (Guatemala), Democratic Front against Repression of Guatemala (FDCR), Ejrcito Guerrillero de los Pobres (Guatemala), Frente Democrtico Contra la Represin, Frente Popular 31 de enero, Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes (Guatemala), Fundacin de Ayuda al Pueblo Indgena, Green Alternative Political Group (GRAEL), Guatemalan Human Rights Commission, Iglesia Guatemalteca en el Exilio, INFORPRESS Centroamericana, Institute for Food and Development Policy (Oakland, Calif.), Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America , International Association of Democratic Lawyers, International Conference of Solidarity with the people of Guatemala, INTERTECT (Firm), Jornadas por la vida y la paz, Juventad '92', Majawil Q'ij, Oficina de Asesora y Consultora Educativa (Guatemala), Oficina de Educacin (Guatemala), One Sky, Organizacin del Pueblo en Armas, Oxfam, Pax Christi, Permanent People's Tribunal, School of Living, Solidarity Committee with Central America, South Texas Aid to Refugees, Trade Union Support for Guatemala, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos (1983 : Madrid), Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca, United Nations Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities, United States Agency for International Development, United States Department of State, United States Embassy (Guatemala), World Bank, World Council of Churches.

Following the CIA-backed military coup which removed the reformist government of Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 Guatemala endured thirty years of military rule, characterised by a tragic spiral of human rights abuses and the growth of guerilla insurgencies, both reinforcing the other. By 1982 the revolutionary groups had merged into the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) and it was with this organisation that the civilian government elected in 1984 began negotiations in 1987. Despite various peace agreements and elections violence, abuse and poverty have remained endemic in Guatemala, with army leaders such as General Efrain Rios Montt still not having been brought to face trial. The majority of the materials held here date from the era of military rule and reflect the concerns of NGOs and local groups regarding human rights, poverty, the indigenous peoples, and the need for development. In addition there are materials from guerilla organisations and from Church groups, though the amount of actual party political material is limited.

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.