Revolution and Counterrevolution in Guatemala, 1944-1963

An Annotated Guide to Street Literature in the Benson Latin American Collection (Part I: 1944-1949)

Introduction

The Guatemalan Revolution of October, 1944, following the forced resignation of Jorge Ubico, president of Guatemala for the previous thirteen years, led to a struggle for political and social change that has continued to the present. Many of the issues which emerged in the years following the Revolution continue to concern Guatemalans today, and they have taken on international significance in light of an ongoing political and social struggle, which has periodically turned violent.

The first ten years after the Revolution saw two presidents, Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, lead the country to adopt a new constitution, broaden suffrage, encourage an active labor movement, and legislate agrarian reform, a labor code, and university autonomy. Progress toward these and other goals was not without opposition, spearheaded by an active anticommunist movement. The first post-revolutionary decade ended with the resignation of Arbenz in June, 1954, prompted by the presence of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional just across the border in Honduras, reinforced by air support from the United States.

Guatemalan national life changed direction in the next decade, 1954-1963, when Carlos Castillo Armas, erstwhile leader of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, assumed the presidency in July, 1954, and it continued to change when, after his assassination in 1957, Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes was elected president (1958). Many changes initiated during the revolutionary period were maintained--social security, the labor code, and public health programs among them. Others, such as the agrarian reform laws, with their actual and symbolic significance, were drastically modified, and the Constitution of 1945 was abrogated and replaced with a new one in 1956. Many organizations--especially those representing economically deprived sectors of society--were abolished, and new political parties were formed. All of these changes occurred amidst protest--this time from student groups, labor organizations, and the remnants of certain political parties.

The political and ideological struggles which characterized Guatemalan national life during these two decades produced many ephemeral publications which were used by organizations, individuals, and the government for a variety of purposes: to state policy, express opinions, advocate causes, question or denounce the views of others, urge fellow citizens to act, advertise meetings, strikes, and demonstrations, and support political candidates.

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Scope and Contents Note

This annotated guide identifies and describes 2636 ephemeral publications which are part of the Taracena Flores Collection.   *It is the companion volume to Revolution and Counterrevolution in Guatemala, 1944-1963: An Annotated Bibliography of Materials in the Benson Latin American Collection, published in 1984 by the General Libraries of The University of Texas at Austin, which described 984 cataloged items--books, pamphlets, microforms, and serials. These publications came to the Benson Collection as part of the collection of Arturo Taracena Flores, a Guatemalan bibliophile who spent a lifetime gathering printed and other materials about his country. The Taracena Flores Collection, purchased by the University of Texas at Austin in two installments (1963 and 1970), consisted of some 7,000 books and pamphlets, more than 5,000 broadsides, several hundred periodical and newspaper titles, newspaper clippings, maps, and miscellaneous items on all subjects. The dates of publication for most of the items were between 1821 and 1963.

Most of the publications cited in this guide can be termed street literature, since they were intended to be read or distributed widely and/or posted in public places. In keeping with messages intended for a popular audience their content was often brief.   **For more information about this material see Ann Hartness, "A political and Social Profile in Street Literature: Guatemala, 1944-1963" in Nahuatl to Rayuela: The Latin American Collection at Texas, ed. Dave Oliphant (Austin: The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, 1992). First published in The Library Chronicle of The University of Texas at Austin 22, no. 3 (1992): 116-131.

Broadsides--separately published sheets of paper, printed on only one side--comprise by far the largest group of materials. A second and smaller group is comprised of manuscripts and a variety of ephemera, listed under the rubric "Miscellanea." A few examples indicate the wide ranging nature of its content: clandestine originals or carbon copies of anonymous typescripts which urge readers to circulate them or to make additional copies and distribute them; safe conduct passes issued to individuals by the government during states of emergency; invitations to official events; acrostics relaying brief messages; political party membership cards; funeral announcements of prominent persons; and itineraries of visiting foreign dignitaries (such as the one prepared for the visit of Richard M. Nixon in 1955). Campaign handbills for political parties, individual candidates, or slates of candidates form the third category of materials, while the fourth and smallest category is posters.

All of the major issues that concerned Guatemalans during this period (except for the Belize question) are reflected in the materials cited in these materials: agrarian reform, freedom of speech, voting rights for illiterates, communism, anticommunism, the labor movement, rural development, the role of the Church in political affairs, and foreign intervention in Guatemala's internal politics are among them. Also well represented are important events related to these issues--elections, strikes, demonstrations, political conventions, May Day celebrations, presidential inaugurations, political assassinations, and student events with political overtones, such as the Huelga de Dolores.

The materials also represent a broad range of organizations and interest groups, reflecting the ideological impartiality of Arturo Taracena Flores when it came to collecting Guatemalan imprints, for the whole spectrum of political opinion is exemplified. Political parties, labor, unions, cultural and religious organizations, government agencies, and groups representing such diverse interests as those of students, campesinos, landowners, urban workers, the military, teachers, small business owners, and women, all expressed their opinions or interpreted events. Individuals ranging from exiled political leaders and students to elder statesmen also published their views.   **Although the diligence of Mr. Taracena Flores in collecting Guatemalan imprints has been referred to, a footnote is in order here. In fact, not all of the materials that he collected were published in Guatemala. Among the more interesting exceptions are publications of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, issued in Honduras, and the publications of exile groups located in El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico.

The wealth of documentation about and commentary on Guatemalan national life, 1944-1963, to be found in the Taracena Flores Collection and in other materials acquired by the Benson Collection, is an invaluable resource for research in Guatemalan politics and history, and on such diverse topics as student activism, land reform, anticommunist movements, labor movements, the Church as a factor in politics, and women's studies. It is also rich in material for biography and for studies of specific organizations. The Guatemala of this period continues to attract the interest of political leaders, scholars, and journalists as they look for clues to the current Guatemalan political situation in the events of the past, and attempt to fit contemporary Guatemala into a regional and world context.

The basic arrangement of this guide is chronological by year of publication, encompassing the years 1944-1963. An item is listed under a given year when the date of publication is printed on it, or when the date can be determined from the context. Items which can be placed only within a decade are listed under undated categories representing the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, while those with completely unknown dates are listed under the last category of the guide, "Undated Items." Subdivisions within each year are by format: broadsides, miscellanea, campaign handbills, and posters. Each item within these categories is listed alphabetically by author, or by title if the author is unknown. The individual entries are numbered sequentially (1-2636), and they correspond to the numbers on the items in the collection of ephemera from the Taracena Flores Collection which is available upon request in the Rare Books Reading Room of the Benson Collection.

Each entry provides complete bibliographical information, and most include annotations noting the subject of the publication, the names of individuals or organizations referred to, and other significant information. Annotations are omitted when the title of a piece adequately describes its content and there is nothing else which requires mention.

A list identifying acronyms which appear in the publications follows the guide. In a very few cases acronyms could not be identified, and thus do not appear in this section.

The Author/subject Index is combined in one alphabet. It includes names of persons, organizations, periodicals, and newspapers (which often published broadsides reprinting articles which appeared in them), and laws and decrees. It also includes events and significant dates. For example, citations can be found under such entries as Huelga de Dolores, Elections, Demonstrations, May 1, and Revolution, Oct. 20, 1944. Geographic locations are also cited when an event took place in cities and departamentos other than Guatemala City and the Departamento of Guatemala, or when items were published outside of the capital. The index also includes a few broad subject entries referring to interest groups and to major issues. Students and youth, Women, Campesinos and Agrarian reform and Foreign intervention are examples of these two categories.

Microfilm of the material cited in this guide is available on loan or for purchase from the Benson Latin American Collection.

Special thanks are due to Harold W. Billings, Director of The General Libraries, and to Laura Gutiérrez-Witt, Head Librarian of the Benson Latin American Collection, for their support of the compilation of this guide over a period of several years, which included a research work assignment making the necessary concentration on it possible. Warm thanks are also extended to Veronica Grossi, Lynette Thorn, and Richard Toscano who spent many hours doing the word processing which led to publication, and to Margo Gutiérrez for her proofreading assistance.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted.

Restrictions on Use

Use of some materials may be restricted due to preservation concerns. Standard copyright restrictions apply.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Arturo Taracena Flores Collection, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin

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Inventory