Primary Sources on Latin American Revolutions

Update: August 1, 2012 You may wish to review the differences between primary and secondary sources. [Special gracias to graduate assistants Carrie Collins and Daire Roebuck for locating and digitizing many of these sources.]

Some of these documents contain Spanish words that you may not know. Try to use context to figure out the meaning. If that doesn't work then visit your handy Online Spanish-English Dictionary. Plug in the word and you'll get a translation pronto. It will even pronounce some of the words for you!
  • Human Rights Links
  • Links to secondary sources on Latin American revolutions

    Table of Contents for Latin American Revolutions

  • 19th-Century Proconditions for Revolution
  • The Greate Mexican Revolution, 1910-20
  • US Intervention against the Mexican Revolution
  • US Opposes Change in Nicaragua, 1920s-1980s
  • 20th-Century Preconditions for Revolution
  • Castro and Guevara Views on Revolution
  • Urban Guerrillas
  • Other Revolutions and Reasons for Revolution
  • Liberation Theology
  • Debating US Responses to Revolution
  • Zapatista Revolution in Chiapas, Mexico: EZLN

    19th-Century Preconditions for Revolution

    1. Documents of the Haitian Independence Struggle, 1791-1804
    2. Life in Highland Peru, 1850s
    3. Life in the Amazon Basin, 1850s
    4. Naturalist Charles Darwin meets gauchos, 1830s
    5. Domingo Sarmiento Describes the Gaucho, 1846
    6. "Martin Fierro," 1872 by José Hernández
    7. Yiddish Gauchos [primary and secondary sources about Argentina's "Jewish Gauchos"]
    8. Conditions in the Dominican Republic in the 1870s
    9. Types of Brazilian Cowboys, 1902, Euclides de Cunha
    10. Considerations Relating to the Political and Social Situation of the Mexican Republic in the Year 1847, by Mexican intellectual Mariano Otero
    11. Francisco Bilbao (1823-1865, Chilean intellectual), "America in Danger," 1862 Warns of dangers and abuses of dictatorship
    12. Danger of revolution by Friderich Hassaurek, 1865
    13. Maria Eugenia Echenique, "The Emancipation of Women" (1876)

      The Great Mexican Revolution, 1910-20

      [photo: Pancho Villa, Mexican Revolutionary Before plunging into the documents, I suggest that you have a look at this Timeline of the Mexican Revolution so that you understand the chronology, major figures, and principal events of the revolution.]
    14. James Creelman article, "President Diaz: Hero of the Americas," Pearson's Magazine
    15. Two commentaries on Porfirio Diaz and the Mexican Revolution Authors: Channing Arnold and Frederick J. Tabor Frost, 1909, and a later view by Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, Peruvian political critic.
    16. Plan of San Luis Potosi by Francisco Madero, 1910
    17. Emiliano Zapata's "Plan de Ayala," November 25, 1911
    18. Zimmerman Telegram, secret message from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the Mexican Government, 1917
    19. Mexican Constitution of 1917 coded, with hyperlinks by Marc Becker. Remember to use edit/search in page for locate keywords. I don't expect to read the entire document. Look for relevant topics and quotations.

      US Intervention against the Mexican Revolution

    20. US Diplomatic Correspondence during the Mexican Revolution
    21. Avoid the Use of the Word Intervention": Wilson and Lansing on the U.S. Invasion of Mexico
    22. John Reed's "What About Mexico?": The United States and the Mexican Revolution
    23. The Reply to Mexico: Standard Oil Puts Forth Its Position Against Mexican Nationalization of the Oil Industry, 1938
    24. Not So Private Negotiations": Mexico Expropriates the Oil Companies, 1938

      US Opposses Change in Nicaragua, 1920s-1980s

    25. Calvin Coolidge explaining and supporting US "Intervention in Nicaragua"
    26. "To Abolish the Monroe Doctrine": Proclamation from Augusto César Sandino, on US Marine occupation of Nicaragua
    27. "Un Colombiano con Sandino": U.S. Intervention in Nicaragua, 1920s
    28. "To Abolish the Monroe Doctrine": Proclamation from Augusto César Sandino, on US Marine occupation of Nicaragua
    29. "Un Colombian con Sandino": U.S. Intervention in Nicaragua, 1920s Note: Scroll down. English translation appears after (below) the Spanish origin: English translation appears below the Spanish original.
    30. Criticism by Victor Raul Haya de la Torre of US Actions in Central America
    31. Thoughts from two Nicaraguan revolutionaries, Augusto Cesar Sandino (1920s) and Omar Cabezas (1970s)
    32. A Documentary History: The Sandino Rebellion in Nicaragua by Michael J. Schroeder Extensive collection of materials on the Sandinista movement
    33. CIA Manual: Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare by "Tayán" CIA-sanctioned use of terror to overthrow the Sandinistas

      20th-Century Preconditions for Revolution

    34. Autobiographical Note by José Carlos MARIATEGUI, Peruvian Marxist philosopher
    35. ANTI-IMPERIALIST VIEWPOINT by J. C. MARIATEGUI Presented to the First Latin American Communist Conference, June 1929.
    36. The World Crisis and the Peruvian Proletariat by J. C. MARIATEGUI Delivered to the “Gonzales Prada” People’s University, at the Peruvian Student Federation hall, Lima, on June 15, 1923.
    37. Philosophy and Goals of the APRA Party (Peru) by Victor Raul Haya de la Torre
    38. Excerpts from Adventures of a Tropical Tramp by Harry L. Foster, published in 1925
    39. Statement of Priniciples of Acción Feminista Domincana 1931 feminist statement, Dominican Republic
    40. Letters from the Argentine, observations from the early 1940s by Mr. Francis Herron, a young student visiting from the US.
    41. Childhood memories and thoughts by Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator (1921-97)
    42. Voices of Liberation Theology in Brazil
    43. Growing Up Black in Brazil, memoir of Carolina Maria de Jesus
    44. Memoirs of Sofia Velasquez, a Bolivian Market Vendor, 1960s-70s

      Castro and Guevara Views on Revolution

      [photo: Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in Cuba] Fidel Castro with Che Guevara

      Video Clips

    45. Brief video (4 min.) on early years of the Cuban Revolution
    46. Newsreel briefs from Cuba Anti-American Protests, 1960 (1:51); Bay of Pigs Aftermath, 1961 (1:17); Castro at New School Inauguration, 1971 (2:37); Castro Visits the U.S.S.R., 1972 (0:55); Queue of Asylum-Seekers, 1980 (2:21); Mariel Boat Lift, 1980 (0:55)
    47. Brief video of anti-imperialist speech by Che Guevara (1 1/2 minutes), with English subtitles

      Documents

    48. Extensive archive of Castro speeches and writings
    49. "History Will Absolve Me" by Fidel Castro, 1953
    50. "HISTORY WILL ABSOLVE ME:" Speech by Fidel Castro Ruz Another version of this famous speech
    51. Tengo (I have) a poem by Nicolas Guillen
    52. A Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime This once-secret CIA plan details the measures President Eisenhower authorized in March, 1960, to undermine the Revolutionary government.
    53. Inspector General's Survey of the Cuban Operation - October 1961 Secret report of the CIA's many failures in planning and executing the Bay of Pigs invasion. Declassified in 1998.
    54. Soviet Documents onthe Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
    55. Cuban President Fidel Castro describes conditions in Latin America, May 1 2002
    56. Che Guevara Archive Extensive set of documents
    57. Fidel Castro Archive Extensive documents and speeches
    58. Castro Speech of May 1, 2002 on pre-revolutionary conditions in Cuba versus the rest of Latin America
    59. Che Guevara on Guerrilla Warfare, 1961
    60. Collected works of Guevara--many speeches and articles
    61. Interview with Comandante Manuel Pineiro Losada (Barba Roja) An active witness to Che's international actions from 1959 until his assassination in Bolivia in 1967.

      Historical footnote: October 25, 2007 – A lock of Che Guevara's hair along with photos, captured documents, intelligence intercepts, and original fingerprints relating to the capture, execution and secret burial of the Argentine-born revolutionary sold at auction for $100,000.

      Urban Guerrillas

    62. Mini-manual of the Urban Guerrilla by Carlos Marighella
    63. Interview with a Tupamaro (Uruguay): Mickey Z. talks with Hiber Conteris

      Other Revolutions and Reasons for Revolutions

    64. Manifesto of a Military Uprising, Dominican Republic, 1930
    65. Is Latin America Capable of Democracy? An essay by Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, 1955
    66. Speech by Juan Bosch (December 10, 1962) Bosh (1909-2001) served briefly as president of the Dominican Republic from Feb-Sept 1963. Here he expresses his opposition to the dictator Rafael Trujillo, who had run the Domincan Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Notice the political context that he uses to explain Trujillo's rule.
    67. Confessions from Argentina's "Dirty War," 1976-83
    68. US State Dept. Declassified Files on Argentina's Dirty War PDF documents
    69. 20 Cases of Torture described in Brazil "This is a not a pleasant exhibition, but it is a very important one. It consists of photographs and text describing twenty out of more than 500 documented cases of torture in Brazil when the Military ruled the country between 1964 and 1980. Brazil has punished no one for these crimes, and none of the victims of torture or their families received any compensation from the government for their losses."
    70. Amnesty International Report on Human Rights in Guatemala
    71. National Security Archive Documents on the Cuban Missle Crisis, Iran Contra Scanadal, Oliver North documents, Guatemalan Death Squads, Richard Nixon ordering actions against Chilean President Salvador Allende, and much more. Click on country names under "Archive Projects" on the lower right-hand part of the page.
    72. Interviews with Guatemalan refugees
    73. Interview (Dec. 2003) with Ariel Dorfman, who fled into exile to escape the Chilean military dicatorship in 1973
    74. 1993 Interview with Abimael Guzman, "Presidente Gonzalo," Shining Path Founder

      Liberation Theology: Religious Support for Radical Change

    75. POPULORUM PROGRESSIO ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PAUL VI ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLES, MARCH 26, 1967 The foundational document for Liberation Theology that inspired the Latin American bishops and many theologians in Latin America.
    76. Statements of the Latin American Bishops at the Medellin (Colombia) Conference, 1968
    77. Church Statement of Brazil's Land Problem, 1980
    78. The Last Sermon of El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero before he was murdered in 1980
    79. Relevant Scriptural passages Liberation theologians draw upon these passages from the Bible to shape their theologies.
    80. John Yu Liberation Theology Document Collection A rich and varied archive of relevant documents.

      Debating US Responses to the Causes of Revolutions

      [photo: Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Prize winner, president of Costa Rica]
    81. Communism in the Americas Article by Roy R. Rubottom, Jr. (1958 anti-communism propaganda from the Eisenhower administration). Excellent example of US Cold warrior world view.
    82. Rebuttal of US Cold War views by Juan Bosch, president of the Dominican Republic, 1962
    83. Documents on the Reagan-Bush Iran-Contra Scandal
    84. Policy recommendations of Nobel Peace Prize winner (and past president of Costa Rica) Oscar Arias
    85. Secret Documents/ Los documentos secretos del archivo "Cóndor" de John Dinges Secret CIA ties to South American intelligence agencies
    86. Torture -- as American as apple pie

      Zapatista Revolution in Chiapas, Mexico: EZLN

      For reference--not a document to be cited: Timeline of Zapatista Uprising 1994
    87. Video interview (9 1/2 min.) with Subcomandante Marcos, EZLN leader
    88. Zapatistas! Documents of the New Mexican Revolution Full text of a key Zapatista document.
    89. 1997 Zapatista Manifesto
    90. Commentary on Zapatista movement by Carlos Fuentes
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