Contemporary Latin American Revolutions

by Marc Becker Truman State University

Overview

Revolutions are a commonly studied but only vaguely understood historical phenomenon. Now updated to include the perspectives of grassroots revolutionary movements and biographies of often marginalized voices, this clear and concise text extends our understanding with a critical narrative analysis of key case studies: the 1910–1920 Mexican Revolution; the 1944–1954 Guatemalan Spring; the 1952–1964 MNR-led revolution in Bolivia; the Cuban Revolution that triumphed in 1959; the 1970–1973 Chilean path to socialism; the leftist Sandinistas in Nicaragua in power from 1979–1990; failed guerrilla movements in Colombia, El Salvador, and Peru; and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela after Hugo Chávez’s election in 1998. Historian Marc Becker opens with a theoretical introduction to revolutionary movements, including a definition of what “revolution” means and an examination of factors necessary for a revolution to succeed. He analyzes revolutions through the lens of those who participated and explores the sociopolitical conditions that led to a revolutionary situation, the differing responses to those conditions, and the outcomes of those political changes. Each case study provides an interpretive explanation of the historical context in which each movement emerged, its main goals and achievements, its shortcomings, its outcome, and its legacy. The book concludes with an analysis of how elected leftist governments in the twenty-first century continue to struggle with issues that revolutionaries confronted throughout the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538163726
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/15/2022
Series:	Latin American Perspectives in the Classroom
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	374
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.41(h) x 1.13(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Marc Becker is professor of Latin American history at Truman State University. Among his books are The CIA in Ecuador, The FBI in Latin America, ¡Pachakutik!:Indigenous Movements and Electoral Politics in Ecuador, Indians and Leftists in the Making of Ecuador's Modern Indigenous Movements, and Mariátegui and Latin American Marxist Theory.

Table of Contents

Preface

1 Theories of Revolution

Biography: José Carlos Mariátegui, 1894–1930

Document: José Carlos Mariátegui, “On the Indigenous Problem,” 1928

Biography: Dolores Cacuango, 1881–1971

Documents: Ecuadorian Federation of Indians (FEI), 1946

Document: Organization of American States (OAS), “The Preservation and Defense of Democracy in America,” 1948

2 Mexican Revolution, 1910–1920

Biography: Emiliano Zapata, 1879–1919

Document: Emiliano Zapata, “Plan of Ayala,” 1911

Biography: Hermila Galindo, 1886–1954

Document: Hermila Galindo, “The Suffrage Question: Why Do Women Want the Vote?,” 1916

Document: Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson to Secretary of State Philander Knox, 1913 62

3 Guatemalan Spring, 1944–1954

Biography: Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, 1913–1971

Document: “Decree 900,” 1952

Biography: Ester Castellanos de Urrutia, 1892–1964

Document: Guatemalan Women’s Alliance, “Appeal to the Women of Guatemala,” 1950

Document: Central Intelligence Agency, “Present Political Situation in Guatemala and Possible Developments during 1952,” 1952

4 Bolivia’s Nationalist Revolution, 1952–1964

Biography: Juan Lechín Oquendo, 1914–2001

Document: The Union Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers, “Pulacayo Theses,” 1946

Document: Antonio Mamani Alvarez, “Caranguillas Thesis,” 1947

Biography: Lidia Gueiler Tejada, 1921–2011

Document: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), “The Outlook for Bolivia,” 1956

5 Cuban Revolution, 1959–

Biography: Fidel Castro, 1926–2016

Document: “First Declaration of Havana,” 1960

Document: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), “Communist Influence in Cuba,” 1960

Biography: Vilma Espín, 1930–2007

Document: Vilma Espín, “A Revolution within a Revolution,” 1988

6 Chilean Road to Socialism, 1970–1973

Biography: Salvador Allende Gossens, 1909–1973

Document: Popular Unity Government, “Basic Program,” 1970

Document: Institute of Indigenous Development, “Indigenous Law,” 1972

Biography: Beatriz Allende, 1942–1977

Document: Viron P. Vaky, “Chile—40 Committee Meeting, Monday—September 14,” 1970

7 Sandinistas in Nicaragua, 1979–1990

Biography: Carlos Fonseca Amador, 1936–1976

Document: “The Historic Program of the FSLN,” 1969

Biography: Dora María Téllez, 1955–

Document: Alicia Gordon, Christa Berger, and Pilar Lacerna, “Nicaragua: We Are Millions,” 1980

Document: “Draft Law on Autonomy Proposed by the Government of Nicaragua,” 1985

Document: Central Intelligence Agency, “The Freedom Fighter’s Manual,” 1983

8 Guerrilla Warfare

Biography: Che Guevara, 1928–1967

Document: Che Guevara, Guerrilla Warfare, 1960

Document: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), “The Latin American Guerrilla Today,” 1971

Document: The Association of Salvadoran Women, “Participation of Latin American Women in Social and Political Organizations,” 1981

Biography: Augusta La Torre (Comrade Norah), 1946–1988

Document: Popular Women’s Movement, “Marxism, Mariátegui and the Women’s Movement,” 1975

9 Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, 1999–

Biography: Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, 1954–2013

Document: Hugo Chávez, World Social Forum, 2005

Biography: Nora Castañeda, 1942–2015

Document: “Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” 1999

Document: “General Services Agreement between the Venezuelan Opposition and Silvercorp,” 2019

10 Socialisms of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Glossary

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Marc Becker, one of the most accomplished and prolific historians of twentieth-century Latin America, has produced a comparative account of revolutions in the region that is rigorous, thought-provoking, and highly readable. He pays due attention to structural factors behind revolutionary projects without losing sight of the centrality of human agency in them. This is the best overview of Latin American revolutions I have read. Scholars and students alike will learn a great deal from this timely and stimulating volume.

Carlos Aguirre

A splendid introduction to and survey of revolutionary movements in Latin America beginning with the Mexican Revolution and ending with the left turn embracing Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution led by Hugo Chávez. Biographies of key protagonists are accompanied by documents and guides to further reading. This is a splendid introduction to Lain American revolutionary traditions with a much-needed focus on the role of women and Indigenous peoples.

Barry Carr

Contemporary Latin American Revolutions offers a geographically and chronologically diverse and theoretically rich array of primary sources, short biographies, and analysis of a spectrum of Latin American revolutionary movements and thought over the course of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The text will be an essential teaching tool to integrate Latin America into more general courses on revolutions, popular movements, and social change and to highlight the enduring significance of revolutions in Latin America’s history. The book gives attention to the grassroots as well as the leadership, to how the region’s racial and ethnic diversity has shaped movements for change, and to the external and global forces that Latin American revolutions have confronted. Really a comprehensive and in-depth introduction to the region’s revolutionary history.

Aviva Chomsky

A splendid introduction to and survey of revolutionary movements in Latin America beginning with the Mexican Revolution and ending with the left turn embracing Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution led by Hugo Chávez. Biographies of key protagonists are accompanied by documents and guides to further reading. This is a splendid introduction to Lain American revolutionary traditions with a much-needed focus on the role of women and Indigenous peoples.

Contemporary Latin American Revolutions offers a geographically and chronologically diverse and theoretically rich array of primary sources, short biographies, and analysis of a spectrum of Latin American revolutionary movements and thought over the course of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The text will be an essential teaching tool to integrate Latin America into more general courses on revolutions, popular movements, and social change and to highlight the enduring significance of revolutions in Latin America's history. The book gives attention to the grassroots as well as the leadership, to how the region's racial and ethnic diversity has shaped movements for change, and to the external and global forces that Latin American revolutions have confronted. Really a comprehensive and in-depth introduction to the region's revolutionary history.

Marc Becker, one of the most accomplished and prolific historians of twentieth-century Latin America, has produced a comparative account of revolutions in the region that is rigorous, thought-provoking, and highly readable. He pays due attention to structural factors behind revolutionary projects without losing sight of the centrality of human agency in them. This is the best overview of Latin American revolutions I have read. Scholars and students alike will learn a great deal from this timely and stimulating volume.

From the Publisher