Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1976- (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
5 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Most of the materials held here date from the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period in which the tensions that had plagued El Salvador since the 1930s finally erupted into civil war. The war with Honduras in 1969 had exacerbated economic problems and the demand for land reform, whilst the rigging of the 1972 election against the Christian Democratic Party (PDC)'s Jos Napoeon Duarte diminished people's belief in the likelihood of effecting peaceful change. Authoritarian rule and human rights abuses on top of the above led to the formation of a plethora of leftist political and guerrilla groups and an alliance was formed between the Frente Democratico Revolucionario (FDR) and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Despite elections and new constitutional guarantees the continued operation of paramilitary death squads with the support of the army meant the FDR-FMLN fought on until the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992. The roles of the United States (which continued to supply aid to the country throughout the 1980s) and the Catholic Church (including that of Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered in 1980) in the civil war are covered by the materials here, as are the problems of refugees and the terrible human rights abuses and state violence that occurred. The materials originate from NGOs, Church groups, revolutionary organisations, trade unions and political parties, as well as from the United States government.
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.
GB 3032 EN 320 PAM 1976- Collection (Fonds) 5 boxes Institute for the Study of the Americas
Most of the materials held here date from the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period in which the tensions that had plagued El Salvador since the 1930s finally erupted into civil war. The war with Honduras in 1969 had exacerbated economic problems and the demand for land reform, whilst the rigging of the 1972 election against the Christian Democratic Party (PDC)'s Jos Napoeon Duarte diminished people's belief in the likelihood of effecting peaceful change. Authoritarian rule and human rights abuses on top of the above led to the formation of a plethora of leftist political and guerrilla groups and an alliance was formed between the Frente Democratico Revolucionario (FDR) and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Despite elections and new constitutional guarantees the continued operation of paramilitary death squads with the support of the army meant the FDR-FMLN fought on until the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992. The roles of the United States (which continued to supply aid to the country throughout the 1980s) and the Catholic Church (including that of Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered in 1980) in the civil war are covered by the materials here, as are the problems of refugees and the terrible human rights abuses and state violence that occurred. The materials originate from NGOs, Church groups, revolutionary organisations, trade unions and political parties, as well as from the United States government.
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.
Institute for the Study of the Americas
Reports, pamphlets, platforms, constitutions, conference proceedings, manifestos, newspaper advertisements, histories, testomonies and letters, 1976 onwards, issued by American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, Archbishop Oscar Romero Christian Legal Aid Service, Asociación de Trabajadores Agropecuarios y Campesinos de El Salvador (ATACES), Bloque Popular Revolucionario (El Salvador), Catholic Church, Catholic Institute for International Relations, Center for National Security Studies, Central America Human Rights Committee, Comisión de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador, Comité de Madres y Familiares de Presos y Desaparecidos políticos de El Salvador, Comité Mexicano de Solidaridad con el Pueblo Salvadoreño, Comisión de Refugiados Salvadoreños, Comité pro Libertad de los Presos Políticos de El Salvador, Conferencia Sindical Internacional de Solidaridad con los Trabajadores y el Pueblo de El Salvador (1981 : Bogotá, Colombia), Coordinadora Revolucionaria de Masas, Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (El Salvador), Faculty for Human Rights in El Salvador and Central America (U.S.), Frente de Acción Popular Unificada(FAPU), Foreign Policy Association, Frente de Acción Popular Unificada (El Salvador), Frente Democrático Revolucionario, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America, International Commission of Jurists, Law Union of Ontario, Movimiento de Liberación Popular (El Salvador), Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario (El Salvador), Organization of American States, Parliamentary Human Rights Group, Partido Comunista de El Salvador, Partido de la Revolución Salvadoreña, Partido Demócrata Cristiano (El Salvador), Partido Union Democratica Nacionalista (El Salvador), Radio Farabundo Martí, Socorro Jurídico Cristiano, Unidad Nacional de Trabajadores Salvadoreños, United States Dept. of State, United States House Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on Foreign Operations), and World Council of Churches.
Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.
Randomly within boxes (at present)
Open for reference purposes to all researchers and postgraduate students.
Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
Spanish and English
Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)
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.
Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Created 01/02/2005 AIM25 American Friends Service Committee Amnesty International Archbishop Oscar Romero Christian Legal Aid Service Asociación de Trabajadores Agropecuarios y Campesinos de El Salvador Bloque Popular Revolucionario (El Salvador) Catholic Church Catholic Institute for International Relations X The Sword of the Spirit X Progressio Center for National Security Studies Central America Central America Human Rights Committee Church Church and State Civil and political rights Comisión de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador Comisión de Refugiados Salvadorenos Comité de Madres y Familiares de Presos y Desaparecidos políticos de El Salvador Comité Mexicano de Solidaridad con el Pueblo Salvadoreno Comité pro Libertad de los Presos Políticos de El Salvador Conferencia Sindical Internacional de Solidaridad con los Trabajadores y el Pueblo de El Salvador (1981 : Bogotá, Colombia) Coordinadora Revolucionaria de Masas Crime Economic and social development El Salvador Faculty for Human Rights in El Salvador and Central America (U.S.) FAPU , Frente de Acción Popular Unificada x Frente de Acción Popular Unificada Foreign Policy Association Frente de Acción Popular Unificada (El Salvador) Frente Democrático Revolucionario Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional Guerilla activities Human rights Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America International Commission of Jurists Law Union of Ontario Movimiento de Liberación Popular (El Salvador) Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario (El Salvador) Organization of American States Parliamentary Human Rights Group Partido Comunista de El Salvador Partido de la Revolución Salvadorena Partido Demócrata Cristiano (El Salvador) Partido Union Democratica Nacionalista (El Salvador) Political movements Political science Politics Religious institutions Terrorism Unidad Nacional de Trabajadores Salvadorenos United States House Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on Foreign Operations) US Department of State World Council of Churches
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Institute for the Study of the Americas
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Reports, pamphlets, platforms, constitutions, conference proceedings, manifestos, newspaper advertisements, histories, testomonies and letters, 1976 onwards, issued by American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, Archbishop Oscar Romero Christian Legal Aid Service, Asociación de Trabajadores Agropecuarios y Campesinos de El Salvador (ATACES), Bloque Popular Revolucionario (El Salvador), Catholic Church, Catholic Institute for International Relations, Center for National Security Studies, Central America Human Rights Committee, Comisión de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador, Comité de Madres y Familiares de Presos y Desaparecidos políticos de El Salvador, Comité Mexicano de Solidaridad con el Pueblo Salvadoreño, Comisión de Refugiados Salvadoreños, Comité pro Libertad de los Presos Políticos de El Salvador, Conferencia Sindical Internacional de Solidaridad con los Trabajadores y el Pueblo de El Salvador (1981 : Bogotá, Colombia), Coordinadora Revolucionaria de Masas, Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (El Salvador), Faculty for Human Rights in El Salvador and Central America (U.S.), Frente de Acción Popular Unificada(FAPU), Foreign Policy Association, Frente de Acción Popular Unificada (El Salvador), Frente Democrático Revolucionario, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America, International Commission of Jurists, Law Union of Ontario, Movimiento de Liberación Popular (El Salvador), Movimiento Nacional Revolucionario (El Salvador), Organization of American States, Parliamentary Human Rights Group, Partido Comunista de El Salvador, Partido de la Revolución Salvadoreña, Partido Demócrata Cristiano (El Salvador), Partido Union Democratica Nacionalista (El Salvador), Radio Farabundo Martí, Socorro Jurídico Cristiano, Unidad Nacional de Trabajadores Salvadoreños, United States Dept. of State, United States House Committee on Appropriations (Subcommittee on Foreign Operations), and World Council of Churches.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.
System of arrangement
Randomly within boxes (at present)
Conditions of access and use area
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.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Spanish and English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
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.
Finding aids
Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English