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Institute for the Study of the Americas

Guatemala: Political Pamphlets

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 3032 EL 320 PAM

Held at: Institute for the Study of the Americas

Title: Guatemala: Political Pamphlets

Date(s): 1949-

Level of description: Collection (Fonds)

Extent: 7 boxes

Name of creator(s): Institute for the Study of the Americas

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

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.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Calendar, annuals, pamphlets, magazines, reports, bulletins, newspaper advertisements, journals, declarations, and conference reports, 1949 onwards issued by 500 Años de Resistencia Indígena y Popular, Americas Watch Committee (U.S.), Amnesty International, Asociación Centroamericana de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos, Asociación de Servicios Integrados para el Desarrollo de Centro América, Association Guatemala Infomation Recherche, Banco National de la Vivienda (Guatemala), Brigada de Solidaridad "Farabundo Martí", 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, Comisión de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala, Comité de Unidad Campesina (Guatemala), Comité Guatemalteco de Lucha por la Paz, Comité Guatemalteco de Unidad Patriótica, Comité pro Justicia y Paz de Guatemala, Comunidad Educativa de Centroamerica, Comunidades de Población 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 Indígena y Campesina (Guatemala), Democratic Front against Repression of Guatemala(FDCR), Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres (Guatemala), Frente Democrático Contra la Represión, Frente Popular 31 de enero, Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes (Guatemala), Fundación de Ayuda al Pueblo Indígena, 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 Asesoría y Consultoría Educativa (Guatemala), Oficina de Educación (Guatemala), One Sky, Organización 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.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: Mainly Spanish and English, some French.

System of arrangement:

Randomly within boxes (at present)

Conditions governing access:

Open for reference purposes to all researchers and postgraduate students.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Accruals:

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Archival history:

The majority of the materials held in the political archives of the Library Institute of Latin American Studies originate from the Contemporary Archive on Latin America (CALA), a documentation and research centre on Latin America which donated its holdings upon its closure in 1981. This core collection has continued to be supplemented by further donations and by materials acquired through the visits of Institute staff and their contacts to the relevant countries.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Institute for the Study of the Americas

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

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.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas.