Uganda achieved its independence in 1962 with Milton Obote of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) as chief minister. The UPC had formed an alliance with Kabaka Yekka, the monarchist party of the Buganda region, in order to defeat the mainly Catholic Democratic Party. Materials from all these groups are held here, many originating from the 1962 elections which were the last to be held in Uganda until 1980. During this period the influence of the military in the country steadily increased, following an army mutiny in 1964 and the Kabaka's deposition in 1966, and culminating in the 1971 coup d'etat that brought Ida Amin to power. The war with Tanzania in 1978-1979 was the catalyst for the removal of Amin's dictatorial regime, but though Obote and the UPC were returned to power in the 1980 election, further human rights abuses eventually led to the installation of a so-called no-party democracy under Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1986. The events of these traumatic years are documented here and in the Ugandan Pressure Groups Materials.
The British Virgin Islands were granted a limited form of self-government in 1967, and following the extension of these rights with the introduction of a new constitution in 1977 the British-appointed governor is now responsible for little more than security and the administration of the courts. Its political history has generally been short of controversy, with the two main parties (the United Party and the Virgin Islands Party) alternating in power with the support of a variety of independent candidates until the emergence of the National Democratic Party which eventually took power in 2003. The material here mainly dates from the 1986 election and reflects the significant role of the independent candidates and the genteel electioneering atmosphere.
Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla became a separate British dependency in 1962 following the dissolution of the British West Indies federation, and an associated state in 1967. In 1980 Anguilla, which had long proclaimed its independence from the other two islands, was legally reconstituted as a dependency in its own right and in 1983 Saint Kitts and Nevis as it was then known became independent.
All the materials held here were produced by the Ghana Trades Union Congress, and are concerned both with internal administrative matters and with the union reaction first to one-party rule and then to government by the military.
The major political parties in Jamaica grew out of the trade union movement, so it is as a consequence unsurprising that the trade union federations remained politicised, affiliated either to the Jamaica Labour Party (the Bustamente Industrial Trade Union) or the People's National Party (the National Workers Union). The process by which union-employer negotiations were conducted is represented here, along with statements on collective bargaining agreements produced by both sides of industry.
Christmas Island came under British rule in 1888 following the discovery of phosphate, and was administered as part of the Colony of Singapore until 1958, when it was first made a seperate colony and then transferred to Australian sovereignty. Throughout this period and thereafter phosphate mining dominated the island, and the Union Of Christmas Island Workers was created in 1975 to protect the interests of those working in the industry. The materials here document the birth of the union as well as its grievances with the Australian government, most notably with regard to wage policies which the UCIW saw as discriminating against non-European workers.
The pamphlets here both date from 1964 and represent the views of the Cairo-based Committee affiliated with both the Peoples' Socialist Party and the Aden TUC. In the period prior to the end of British administration these views are anti-colonialist and broadly socialist, with much space devoted to declarations of support for and by like-minded groups in other countries.
Although democracy in India soon brought forth a huge range of political parties Western-style pressure groups were slower to emerge. Those groups featured here are concerned with the predominant issues of the 1970s: the growth of communalism, India's foreign policy and the social and political crisis which culminated in the 1975 state of emergency.
The materials held here reflect the growth in New Zealand in the 1970s and 1980s of pressure and interest groups, for whom the major issues were the rights of women and the Maori people, apartheid and nuclear weapons. These last two constitute the majority of the materials in this collection, with the anti-apartheid movement coalescing (to form HART : The New Zealand anti-apartheid movement) over the issue of South African sporting links and producing country-wide demonstrations and disorder during the 1981 Springbok tour. The strength of anti-nuclear feeling led to the nuclear weapon-free-zone movement in which various areas (soon constituting a majority of the country) declared themselves to be such zones, and contributed strongly to New Zealand's de facto expulsion from the ANZUS alliance in 1985 after the refusal by the Labour government to allow entry to the USS Buchanan when the United States refused to confirm that the vessel was free of nuclear weapons. Other less prominent groups include those representing the interests of farmers and civil rights organisations protesting against the alleged erosion of those rights under the Muldoon National government (1975-1984).
The materials held here mainly originate from groups opposed to the regime of Idi Amin, based both in Uganda and abroad. They include the National Resistance Movement (NRA), which later went on to take power in 1986 following the failure of Obote's Uganda People's Congress (UPC) to improve the economic and human rights situation in the country.
Despite attempts to reconstitute the administration of the colony and its surrounding protectorate as the Federation of South Arabia, direct British control required an increasingly large army presence in the face of national armed movements and in 1967 Aden was abandoned to the forces of the National Liberation Front. The materials here date from the mid-1960s and relate the trade union-based PSP's conflicts with the British authorities and contacts with left-leaning supporters in Britain itself.
The Solomon Islands became independent in July 1978.
Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, became independent in 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib) and his pro-independence Awami League party held power until 1975, when he was assassinated following his declaration of a one-party state. Coup and counter-coup followed with the League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of General Ziaur Rahman (assassinated 1981) alternating in government through the 1980s and 1990s. The materials here, all originating from this turbulent period, are either the product of the ruling party of the time or of the brief moments in which multi-party democracy was tolerated.
The materials held here extend from the period of the emergence of nationalist political parties in Botswana (then the British administered Bechuanaland Protectorate) in the late 1950s, through the domination of the Botswana Democratic Party following the achievement of self-government and then republic status (in 1965 and 1966 respectively) to the most recent elections. Although the role of Botswana in the struggle for majority rule in the rest of Southern Africa is covered the majority of the materials relate to electoral struggles in one of Africa's more successful and prosperous democracies.
Cyprus was ruled by Britain between 1878 and 1960, first under 'lease' from the Ottoman Empire and then as a colony after 1914. A growing desire amongst the Greek Cypriot majority for 'enosis' or union with Greece culminated in an armed uprising between 1955 and 1959. The Turkish Cypriot minority naturally opposed enosis and instead favoured partition, a solution unacceptable to the majority. Agreement on independence made Cyprus a republic with minority rights protected by the constitution, these accords being guaranteed by Greece and Turkey as well as Britain. Continuing intercommunal violence and military posturing by the two 'mother' countries culminated in the 1974 Athens-inspired coup and subsequent Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus. Most of the materials held here deal with the events of 1974 and arguments over how to resolve the division of the island, although the significant collections of EDEK and AKEL materials show the complicated position of the Greek Cypriot left, who were hostile to the Greek military junta and also suspicious of Cyprus being used as a pawn by NATO due to its strategic importance.
The political history of Gibraltar in the period covered by these materials has been defined by the three-way relationship between Britain, Spain and the actual inhabitants of the Rock. While Spain has continued to claim sovereignty over Gibraltar (closing the land frontier between 1969 and 1985 and continuing to refuse to recognise the colony as part of the European Union) a more ambiguous position has been taken by successive British governments. The 1967 referendum saw 95% of Gibraltarians opt to remain under British rule, and led to the 1969 constitution which guaranteed Gibraltar would not be handed to another state against the wishes of its inhabitants. Yet the British military presence has gradually been reduced, with concomitant economic consequences, and the mother country has been seen to be reluctant to confront Spain on behalf of the colony. Thus while the discourses in the materials held here are resolutely anti-Spanish, they reveal autonomist as well as pro-British leanings.
The post-war period in Guyana saw the emergence of the parties and characters that were to dominate its political scene both before and after independence in 1966. Cheddi Jagan formed the People's Progressive Party (PPP) in 1950 and was joined in this new entity by Forbes Burnham. The two were the emerging leaders of the Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese repectively, and as such gave the PPP a formidable electoral base which translated into their 1953 election victory. Despite the dismissal of this government after less than six months by the British and the Burnham's departure to form the People's National Congress (PNC) the PPP continued to hold majorities after the 1957 and 1961 polls. Further labour unrest in 1964 led to the amendment of the constitution under British auspices to allow for the introduction of proportional representation, and under this new system the PNC and conservative United Force (UF) were able to form a government after elections the same year. Burnham was to remain Prime Minister until his death in 1985, overseeing the transition to independence and governing increasingly autocratically in the face of accusations from the PPP and the emergent Working People's Alliance (WPA) of election-rigging and human rights abuses.
The materials held here all date from the period between the official acceptance in 1990 of the Hong Kong Basic Law as the constitution after handover and the last elections under the British in 1994. The major issue for the parties and groups represented here is the prospect of Chinese rule and its implications for democracy and human rights in the Special Administrative Region. As Hong Kong is no longer part of the Commonwealth this collection is now considered closed.
The majority of materials in the collection here date from the period between the founding of the first pan-Kenyan nationalist movement in 1944 and the the granting of independence in 1963 following the election victory of Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union (KANU). Both the major African and colonialist parties are represented, with the issues covered including the proposed East African Federation, the border dispute with Somalia and of course the Mau Mau uprising of 1952-1960. Of particular interest is the debate concerning the future constitution of the country as it became clear that the days of rule from Britain were numbered. The predominantly white parties hoped to secure the representation of minorities in government, while the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) promoted a federal structure in the hope that this would prevent the strongly Kikuyu KANU from using their likely control of central government to dominate other tribal groupings. A smaller number of items also cover Kenya's consolidation as a pro-Western one-party state after 1963 and the opposition first to Kenyetta and later to his successor Daniel Arap Moi.
Montserrat is a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom, having previously been a member of the West Indies Federation from 1958-1962.
Formerly a Dutch colony, the Netherlands Antilles became a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954. With reference to the Netherlands Antilles, 'Windward Islands' (Bovenwindse Eilanden) means the north-eastern islands of Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius, as opposed to the south-western islands of Aruba (which seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986), Bonaire and Curaçao. Note that, confusingly, the Dutch 'Windward Islands' are considered to be part of the Leeward Island group, not the Windward Island group, in British English usage.
The British colonies in the Caribbean were united in the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962; most of the members sought independence separately after the union collapsed.
Post-war materials predominate in this collection, with the majority of the items dating from the 1960s-1980s. Both main electoral parties (the New Zealand Labour Party and the New Zealand National Party) feature significantly, with the most notable of the issues contested being the economy, especially from the 1970s as world events began to intrude upon New Zealand's previous policy of protectionism, and foreign affairs. The latter provided the largest gap between Labour and the Nationals, the latter continuing to orient policy towards America and the West whilst the former withdrew troops from Vietnam, forced the cancellation of the 1973 Springboks tour and displayed persistent opposition to French nuclear testing in the Pacific. That nuclear technology and other environmental issues were becoming significant political factors in New Zealand in the 1970s is shown by the rise of the Values Party. Although brief this represented the first instance worldwide of a 'green party' commanding significant mass support. Also represented here is the Social Credit Party and its precursor, the Social Credit Political League, adhering to the C.H. Douglas doctrine of cheap money and constituting New Zealand's third party from the 1950s onwards. Outside the realm of electoral politics there are a variety of items produced by right-wing parties of various seriousness, including the National Front and the Imperial British Conservative Party, and a large collection of materials produced by various incarnations of the New Zealand Communist Party. The decision of the latter to take China's side in its dispute with the Soviet Union led to the formation of the Socialist Unity Party in 1966, and another splinter group, the pro-Chinese New Zealand Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) emerged after the mother party transferred its allegiance to Hoxha's Albania after the death of Mao in 1976. All of these labyrinthine quarrels are reproduced here.
Namibia (South West Africa) was administered by South Africa under a League of Nations mandate from 1920 to 1946, but as the apartheid regime consolidated itself so the idea of the mandate as something to be eventually relinquished faded, with South Africa refusing to convert the mandate into a UN trusteeship arrangement. The history of Namibia until 1990 was therefore characterised by increasing international disapproval of South African occupation (as shown by the withdrawal of the mandate in 1966 and the International Court of Justice ruling in 1971 that the South African presence was illegal), attempts by the Pretoria regime to give this occupation some legitimacy and the growth of organisations opposed to it. The largest of these were the South West Africa National Union (SWANU) and the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). The recognition of the latter by the UN in 1976 as the sole representative of the will of the Namibian people demonstrated how international events affected organisations resisting the occupation as well as those enforcing it. After the 1978 elections the South-African backed Democratic Turnhalle Alliance formed the territory's government in defiance of UN Resolution 435 and was boycotted by SWAPO among others. Bound as ever to political developments in its more powerful neighbour, Namibia achieved its independence in 1990 following a transitional period overseen by the UN, and has been governed by SWAPO ever since.
Niue has been a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand since 1974.
The majority of the materials held here originate from the United National Independence Party (UNIP), founded by Kenneth Kaunda who became Zambia's first Prime Minister following its independence in 1964. This preponderance can be explained by the fact that UNIP was in office continously until 1991, and that from 1972 to 1990 opposition parties were banned. Following the repeal of this law the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) of Frederick Chiluba were able to win the 1991 elections and unseat Kaunda. Many of the items are speeches or articles written by Kaunda himself, and chart Zambia's attempts to free itself of Western control, economically as well as politically. There are also small quantities of trades union and pressure group material.
The materials held here date from the early 1960s, before and after the demise of the short-lived West Indies Federation. The paucity of pan-Caribbean organisations may be considered a reflection of the strength of national unions in the area, which in many cases (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica) formed the background of successful post-colonial governing parties.
Both the major political parties in Guyana had ties to the trades union movement, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) being affiliated to the People's National Congress (PNC) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) having close links to the People's Progressive Party (PPP). In addition PPP governments were twice suspended in the pre-independence period as a consequence of labour unrest, first in 1953 when the Guiana Industrial Workers' Union struck in favour of a piece of industrial legislation, and then in 1964 when the pro-opposition TUC organised a general strike which led to British intervention and the introduction of proportional representation. The 1964 General Strike is defended in the materials held here, which also include details of sugar trade labour-management agreements and congress reports from the 1970s and 1980s when the unions were involved in supoporting Forbes Burnham's programme of nationalisation.
The collection held here stretches back to the 1940s and includes accounts of industrial disputes from that period from the likes of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Union and the N.Z. Carpenters' and Related Trades' Union. Many of the later items originate from the Public Service Association, a white-collar union, and the umbrella organisation the New Zealand Federation of Labour, often consisting of critiques of government economic policy that reflect the increasing difficult circumstances the unions found themselves in in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As well as these materials and those of other unions representing specific industries there are also productions issued by the Labour Women's Council concentrating on the issues facing female union members.
The Institute of Classical Studies was founded in 1953 by the Senate of the University of London as a partnership between the University and the Hellenic and Roman Societies. The Portrait Collection has been built up over many years, and is constantly updated.
The United Kingdom Alliance was founded in 1853 in Manchester to work for prohibition of alcohol in the UK. This occurred in a context of support for the type of law passed by General Neal Dow in Maine, USA, in 1846, prohibiting the sale of intoxicants.
It was initiated by Nathaniel Card (1805-1856), an Irish cotton manufacturer and member of the Society of Friends. He had also been a member of the Manchester and Salford Temperance Society since 1852, and was interested in what was coming to be known as the Maine Law. At a private meeting at Card's house on 20 July 1852, the National League for the Total and Legal Suppression of Intemperance was formed. Other members included Alderman William Hervey of Salford and Joseph Brotherton MP (Salford). At the third meeting of the League a Provisional Committee was formed, based in Manchester.
Their objectives were openly political, to form and enlighten public opinion nationally, believing that the self-denying and benevolent efforts of temperance societies would never be able to end the liquor trade while legalised temptation to drink and get drunk was permitted. They aimed for total and immediate legislative suppression of traffic in intoxicating beverages.
The name of the League was changed on 14 Feb 1853, to the UK Alliance for the Suppression of the Traffic in all Intoxicating Liquors, and Sir Walter C Trevelyan, became the first president in June the same year, with a General Council holding its first meeting on October.
A weekly newspaper Alliance News was begun in 1854, a journal of moral and social reform, and sold for one penny. Since 1980 it has been published as a bi-monthly magazine.
They were not a total abstinence society, and membership was open to teetotallers and drinkers alike, by 1858 membership had risen to 4500, and £3000 was raised by subscription for their work. Their chief public spokesman was Sir Wilfrid Lawson, MP (1829-1906).
In 1862, the London Union of Alliance members changed to the London Auxiliary of the Alliance, and appointed it's the first London agent, Rev John Hanson. The Alliance had occupied premised in Victoria St, London, until the decision was made to build a new headquarters. A site in Caxton St was purchased in 1937, the new building - Alliance House - being opened in 1938, at a cost of £75,000.
In 1942, the Alliance became a limited company, the UK Temperance Alliance Ltd. By the 1970s the main role of the Alliance was educational work and its interest had broadened to other areas of addiction besides alcohol (much of which is undertaken by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS), a trading arm of the Alliance. In 2003, the UK Temperance Alliance was renamed the Alliance House Foundation.
National Temperance Federation (NTF) was reconstituted at its annual meeting in 1936, and declared its policy as the representation of every section of the temperance movement of approximately three million members of temperance organisations throughout the country.
National Commercial Temperance League (NCTL) was formed in the 1890s to appeal to the business and professional community in the economic and ethical field of thought. In 1953, it approached the UKA with a view to amalgamation.
National United Temperance Council (NUTC) was founded in July 1896 at a National Conference of County United Temperance Councils. The aim of both County and National UTCS was to consolidate support amongst various temperance organisations for temperance legislation and to promote the temperance movement in general.
Parliamentary Temperance Committee, consisting of members of parliament supporting temperance legislation was formed around 1906.
The Band of Hope was founded in 1847, with the aim of instructing boys and girls as to the properties of alcohol and the consequences of its consumption. Generally involving midweek meetings with music, slides, competitions and addresses on the importance of total abstinence. By 1855, there were so many local bands that a London Union was formed and in 1864, this was expanded to become the UK Band of Hope Union. By 1901 there were more than 28,000 societies with a total membership of more than 3.5 million children.
International Order of Good Templars (IOGT) was formed around 1852 in the United States of America, it spread to England around 1869, to Scotland and Ireland about 1970, and Wales 1871. Its object was to secure personal abstinence from the use of all intoxicating drinks as a beverage and the prohibition of the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating drink. Membership was achieved by signing a lifelong pledge of abstinence.
Working records of the Library were produced in the conduct of business. Gate signing-in books were created at a rate of about 1 per month from 1975 to 1998.
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Secretary and Librarian undertook the administration of the Institute under the direction of the Committee of Management and was also responsible for building up the library. The position was held by K Howard Drake from 1947 until his death in 1967. He was succeeded by W A F P Steiner. In 1971 the functions were separated, with Steiner continuing as IALS Librarian while administrative duties passed to a new Secretary, J A Boxhall.
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies premises at 25 Russell Square were opened on 11 June 1948. The Institute later expanded into 26 Russell Square, and in 1956 took over additional premises at 1 Woburn Square. A new filing system (see A.IALS 5) was instituted for building, works and maintenance files covering the new building at Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, from December 1975.
The files listed below comprise primarily the files of J A Boxhall, Secretary from 1971-1986, when he retired due to ill-health. He was replaced temporarily by H F Patterson. In 1987 a new Administrative Secretary, D E Phillips, was appointed.
The Institute moved into the new building at Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, in December 1975; it was officially opened on 1 April 1976.
These estimates were compiled by the Secretary, primarily J A Boxhall.
Directors of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 1947-1988, have been Sir David Hughes Parry MA, LLD, 1947-1959; Sir Norman D Anderson OBE, MA, LLD, 1960-1976; Professor A L Diamond LLM, 1976-1986; Sir Jack Jacob QC, LLD, Dr Juris, 1986-1988. The Director's functions are as follows: to lay down policy directions for IALS; to give academic leadership; to ensure efficient management; to represent IALS within the University and outside; and to participate on behalf of IALS in the direction and management of the School of Advanced Study.
Miss Muriel Anderson has been Assistant Librarian at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies since 1981.
From 1963 to 1978 Honduras endured a series of military coups and disputed elections as well as the 1969 war with El Salvador and the devastation caused by Hurricane Fifi which killed an estimated 10,000 in 1974. Though the country moved towards an ostensibly civilian form of government from 1978, culminating three years later in an election win for the Partido Liberal de Honduras (PLH), the growing insurgencies in neighbouring El Salvador and Nicaragua during this period led to an upsurge in regional tensions, and a growing influx of refugees. As Honduras became drawn into the US-backed Contras' struggle against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua the army used the opportunity to crack down on dissent at home, and reports of human rights abuses began to increase. When the Sandinistas lost the 1990 Nicaraguan election the significance of Honduras to the United States largely disappeared, as did the aid that had formerly been liberally provided, leaving the country facing the same economic concerns as in the 1970s. The materials held here date primarily from the late 70s to the end of the main Central American guerrilla struggle, and deal with both the country's economic situation and with the war and its human rights consequences. The material comes from trades unions and political groups, though not from the major parties, as well as from external human rights organisations and NGOs.
The coup in Chile in 1973 must rank as amongst the most important and controversial events in the history of Latin America since the Second World War. The holdings here certainly attest to that, more numerous than for any other nation and predominantly concerned with the Allende government and the junta that replaced it. There had been coups in other countries in the region (amongst others Guatemala in 1954, Brazil and Bolivia in 1964, Argentina in 1966), but none that resonated with the outside world in the same way. It was Chile's misfortune to be seen as a paradigm example, a test case for the democratic road to socialism. Following the moderate reformism of Eduardo Frei's Christian Democratic administration (1964-1970) the 1970 election was won by a narrow margin by the Popular Unity coalition led by Socialist Party leader Salvador Allende. Allende sought to increase state ownership and control in the economy (an early move being the nationalisation of the copper industry), but to do so within the constitutional bounds of Chilean democracy. The result was an increased polarisation of society between the upper and middle classes with most to lose from the expropriation of privately-owned assets and the redistribution of income and the supporters of Allende (primarily the peasants, the working class and the marginal poor). This conflict exarcerbated Chile's growing economic difficulties (blamed either on the new government's reforms or on the obstruction of those reforms by the opposition and its tacit supporters in the United States), and led to the emergence of more radical left-wing groups such as the MIR (Revolutionary Movement of the Left) and eventually to the September 11th military coup led by General Pinochet. That this succeeded was due in no small part to the divisions on the left, with the Communist Party (and through it the Soviet Union, whose limited funding of the Popular Unity government was provided increasingly reluctantly) continually urging caution in the face of the maximalist demands being put forward by the MIR and the radical wing of Allende's Partido Socialista.
The coup was significant not just for its resounding verdict on the democratic socialist approach but also for the opportunity it provided for the trial of the monetarist policies advocated by economists such as Milton Friedman. Thus the Chile of Pinochet continued to attract and divide international attention and opinion, organisations such as Amnesty and the Betrand Russell Tribunal publicising the regime's human rights abuses whilst conservative leaders in the UK and US in the 1980s supported its sound anti-communist and neo-liberal economic stances. The materials held here are predominantly from groups more concerned with torture and disappearances than with interest rates, and include items produced by expatriate branches of the Popular Unity parties, reports from external Church, UN and labour investigators and a host of materials from organisations representing those who suffered under Pinochet. There is also a sizable collection of contemporary material dating from the time of the Allende government.
In the post-war era Argentina was governed mainly by either the military (1943-1946, 1955-1958, 1966-1973 and 1976-1982) or the authoritarian populist Juan Domingo Perón (1946-1955, 1973-1974), himself a prominent army figure in the 1943 coup. Only after the Falklands War did Argentina embark on a more democratic course, and the new presidential democratic federal republic has been since been beset by severe economic problems culminating in the 2001 collapse. This collection contains two pamphlets authored by Perón himself in the 1940s, but the majority of the material covers either the torture and disapperances that occurred during the 1970's `dirty war' between the state and armed organisations of both the left and right or the attempts to account for these human rights abuses in the 1980s.
Much of the material in this collection is concerned with the climate of violence in Uruguay in the 1970s. Some documents the activities of the Tupamaros, a left-wing urban guerrilla movement whose role in the increasing unrest in the country provided the pretext for the effective takeover of power by the armed forces in 1973. The widespread human rights abuses that occurred in the period prior to the return to civilian government in 1984 are also covered.
The materials held here cover a wide variety of popular movements and issues in recent Latin American history from both internal (in the form of publications by local pressure groups, oppositional parties and governments) and external perspectives (through the reports and bulletins of NGOs, international conferences and foreign political parties). Inevitably (given the military governments, revolutionary movements and increasingly dominant neo-liberal economic policies which have marked this era in the continent's history) major topics include human rights, poverty, economic sovereignty and the condition of indigenous peoples, whilst the role of the United States in the hemisphere is also considered. Another aspect unique to Latin America is the large amount of material originating from Christian groups, many seeking to "exercise an option in favour of the poor" as promulgated by the II Vatican Council (1962-1965).
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.
Most of the materials held in this collection at present date from period surrounding the 1979 revolution, dealing with the decline and fall of the Somoza dynasty and the progress of the Sandinista government which replaced it. Thus there are reports from NGOs concerned with human rights abuses and economic and social conditions under the old regime alongside publications by and about opposition groups of both gradualist and revolutionary persuasions. Post-revolutionary materials detail the struggle against the US-backed Contra forces, the controversial elections of 1984 and the progress of the Central American Peace Plan. A large proportion of these are authored either by the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) themselves or by organisations expressing solidarity with them, including some Church groups despite the antipathy of the Catholic heirerchy to the revolution. It must be noted that the overwhelming majority of the items held here are can be judged to be sympathetic towards the Sandinistas, reflecting inevitably the priorities of those who collected and housed the material.
Colombia has a long tradition of both democracy and political violence, and this remains true for the period covered by the bulk of this collection. Prior to 1974 the country had been ruled for sixteen years by a National Front which allowed for the alternation in power of the two main parties, the Partido Conservador Colombiano (Colombian Conservative Party, PCC) and the Partido Liberal Colombiano (Colombian Liberal Party, PLC). This period also saw the emergence of a variety of leftist guerrilla groups, most prominently the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia--FARC), the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional--ELN), the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación--EPL) and the 19th of April Movement (Movimiento 19 de Abril--M-19). The transition to open competition between the Liberals and Conservatives in 1974 failed to end the insurgency, which was further complicated by the increasing involvement in the fighting of drugs cartels and right-wing paramilitary organisations, the latter with suspected links to both the cartels and the government. The 1970s and 1980s bore witness to a cycle of repression, violence, human rights abuses and failed peace talks. Of the parties actually involved in this conflict only the M-19 are represented here, along with other small radical socialist groups. However the causes and the consequences of the civil war, especially Colombia's gross economic inequalities and the catalogue of disappearances and human rights abuses, dominate the agendas of the NGOs, pressure groups, trade unions, Church bodies and international organisations whose publications are held here. As the country remains volatile it is likely that these issues will continue to predominate in any new material that is collected..
In 1968 the government of Fernando Belaúnde Terry and his Acción Popular party was deposed by a leftist military coup following a currency crisis and a continuing guerrilla war in the countryside. For the next twelve years a revolutionary' military government ran the country, although this period can be divided into two distinct phases. From 1968 to 1975 the new president, Juan Velasco Alvarado, instituted a programme of land reform, industrialisation and nationalisation which sought to end United States dominance over Peru as well as reduce the country's reliance on exports. However, once Velasco was replaced by Francisco Morales Bermudez Cerruti thesecond phase' of the revolution took the form of a move back towards the free market and the increasing embrace of new neo-liberal economic ideas. Civilian rule returned to the country in 1980, but economic problems continued and the emergence of new armed movements such as Sendero Luminoso and Tupac Amuru led to the escalation of the so-called dirty war' and a consequent increase in accusations of human rights infractions. This collection holds materials published by the military government of the 1970s, many on land reform, as well of others from left-wing groups like the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) and the Vanguardia Revolucionaria. Also represented are peasant organisations and trades union federations, as well as independent studies of the Peruvian economic situation in the 1970s. As thedirty war' worsened in the 1980s an increasing number of publications, from both local political parties, church groups (such as the Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America) and NGOs like Amnesty, are concerned with human rights in the country, while other items concentrate on the increasing problem of inflation. The majority of materials currently held in the collection date from the period between the 1968 coup and the election of Fujimori in 1992.
The majority of the materials held here date from the period between 1964 and 1982 when Bolivia, barring a brief period at the end of the 1970s, was under military rule. Despite the expansion of the mining sector and a period of economic growth lasting to the mid-1970s a succession of military leaders continued to use repressive tactics against opposition parties and unions, and following an economic downturn the human rights situation worsened, culminating in the cocaine cartel-financed presidency of General Luis García Meza (1980-1982) in which both paramilitary groups and tactics of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture were used to cow the opposition. This collection includes materials from unions (and union federations such as the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB)), political parties and internal and external human rights pressure groups, as well as government proclamations and pronouncements (mostly regarding the mining industry). There are also reports from groups working with indigenous peoples, as well as material produced by the Roman Catholic Church. The reaction of these organisations to the transition to civilian rule after 1982 and the country's consequent economic problems are also represented in the collection.
The majority of the materials held in this collection at present originate from the 1970s and 1980s, during which time Paraguay was effectively a military dictatorship under the rule of President Alfredo Stroessner. In the 1970s the country enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth, significantly fuelled by its joint participation with Brazil in the Itaipú hydroelectric plant, but this growth was to evaporate following the completion of the project in the 1980s, and the Stronato was eventually overthrown in a February 1989 coup. The limits of the aforementioned economic boom can be seen in the fact that the most prominent organisation represented here is the Misión de Amistad, the church group which through its various projects sought to alleviate poverty and faciliate rural development amongst Paraguay's peasantry and indigenous peoples. Furthermore the price paid by the country for its political stability was a record of repression which helped produce the growing international isolation that preceded Stroessner's deposition, and which is reflected here in a number of items issued by human rights organisations based abroad in Argentina and elsewhere.