“Love And War” in English
When we published the excerpts
from Eduardo Galeano’s extraordi-
nary personal/political memoir,
Days and Nights of Love and War, in
our Fifteenth Anniversary issue last
fall, we offered them as a powerful
testimony to the lives and courage
of the people of Latin America. We
are delighted to announce that this
testimony is now available in its en-
tirety- from Monthly Review Press
($16, cloth; $8, paper).
Judith Brister, who translated the
excerpts for NACLA, has translated
the complete work for Monthly Re-
view. The new book also includes a
previously unpublished article, enti-
novIcgUs
tied “In Defense of the Word,”
translated by Bobbye Ortiz, in
which Galeano argues for the need
to rescue the power of writing from
the privileged and claim it for the
revolution and the people carrying it
forward. Nothing so clearly illus-
trates the worth of such an effort as
Galeano’s own memoir. Journalists
flock to Latin America to learn “the
truth” of these countries, but his ex-
perience conveys the reality of Latin
America in a way those who have
not lived it can never do.
A New Look At Guatemala
Eight years after our classic book
Guatemala, NACLA returns to Cen-
tral America’s largest and most
strategically vital country for a de-
tailed study of the crisis which will
be front-page news in 1983.
That headline reporting, we can
safely predict, will be rife with
myths. Avaricious generals and
evangelical fanatics make good
news fodder, but tell us little of Gua-
temala’s complex reality. Instead,
we will ask what it takes for revolu-
tion to happen in a country like Gua-
temala, and offer NACLA readers
an in-depth analysis of the roots of
revolt.
Part I of this special two-part Re-
port will focus on the disintegration
of Guatemala’s ruling class since
45update update update update
the overthrow of the democratic
Arbenz regime in 1954. Here we
describe a state which has failed to
do its job of running society, and de-
scended into brute terror as its only
means of survival. Part I also shows
the profound legacy of the 1944-
1954 “revolution” and the origins
of a revived popular challenge in the
1960s. Why did that challenge fail,
and what lessons have been learned?
The horrors and massacres per-
petrated by the decaying elite may
grab the headlines. But what we are
unlikely to be told is the story of the
alternative-a popular movement
attuned to the special character of
Guatemalan society and the indige-
nous majority of the population,
with broad appeal and a coherent
program of social transformation.
That story is the heart of our second
issue.
In his December meeting with
President Rios Montt, Ronald
Reagan characterized the new Gua-
temalan dictator as “totally commit-
ted to democracy.” Part II of our Re-
port will examine Rios Montt’s
record and challenge Reagan’s
judgment. As the regime’s options
for survival narrow even further, the
armed forces may be offering not a
democratic opening but the
“Chileanization” of Guatemala.
How far will Reagan intervene to
block the popular alternative? Our
Report concludes with a study of
the regional and international di-
mensions of the Guatemalan crisis.
Is revolution feasible in the current
Cold War climate and the explosive
tensions in Central America?
As always, our study is the result
of months of careful research, two
field-trips to Guatemala and access
to a unique range of documentation
and interviews with all social and
political sectors. The Report’s Proj-
ect Director is NACLA staff re-
searcher George Black, in collabo-
ration with two of this country’s
46
leading Guatemala scholars: Milton
Jamail of the University of Texas at
Austin and Norma Stoltz Chinchilla
of the University of California at
Irvine.
Presidential Alternatives
Judith Matloff’s article on
Mexico’s presidential elections–
“To PRI Or Not To PRI” (March-April
1982)- discussed the importance
of the PSUM coalition and noted
that PSU M’s Martinez Verduga was
the Left’s first official presidential
candidate since the PRI took power
in 1929. This is subject to misinter-
pretation and the author has asked
us to clarify it.
Although the Mexican Commu-
nist Party (PCM) and smaller left-
wing parties now united in the
PSUM could not run official candi-
dates in previous presidential con-
tests, the Popular Socialist Party
(PPS) has been officially on the bal-
lot since its formation in the forties.
While the PPS, which supported the
PRI candidate this year, could now
hardly be considered a party of the
left, it initially grew out of a left-wing
Marxist split from the PRI. Unoffi-
cially, left-wing or progressive can-
didates have occasionally run for
president.
In 1952, Miguel Henriquez Guz-
man, discontent with the PRI’s
move to the right (and failure to
select him as candidate), broke
away and formed his own party, the
Popular Political Front, running on a
platform of true agrarian reform,
freeing political prisoners and op-
portunity for political opposition.
Guzman was supported by both the
PPS and the PCM, winning close to
20% of the vote.
CA. Campaign Launched
Seventeen U.S. peace groups,
religious organizations and Central
American solidarity networks have
banded together to form the Cam-
paign for Peace with Justice in Cen-
tralAmerica. The campaign aims to
educate about the dangers of esca-
lating U.S. involvement in the re-
gion, and mobilize opposition to in-
tervention and support for “lasting
peace with justice.” The group has
prepared an organizer’s packet list-
ing resources, suggestions for local
activities and Congressional lobby-
ing and guidelines for worship. The
winter’s activities will culminate in
Central America Week, March 18-
27. For more information, contact
the Campaign for Peace with Jus-
tice in Central America, 1747 Con-
necticut Avenue NW, Washington,
D.C. 20009, (202) 387-8621.
A Reminder
We often hear that NACLA
Reports disappear from college
library shelves as soon as they ar-
rive-never to be returned. While
it’s flattering to know that the Report
is such a prized commodity, this
also has prevented many pro-
fessors from assigning it to their
classes.
Please remember that all back
issues of the Report are available
as single or bulk orders, or on
microfilm. If an issue is out of print,
we’ll send you photocopies at the
same $3 price.
One of the many ways you can
support our work is to ask your
library to subscribe and maintain a
complete collection of the Report.
Nearly one-third of our current sales
go to college bookstores and pro-
fessors who assign the Report to
their students.
A new catalogue of all our back
issues is now available. Please
send a self-addressed, stamped,
size 10 business envelope (40 cents
postage) to us at 151 W. 19th St.,
NYC 10011, and you’ll be able to
choose from a 15-year collection of
“mini-books” on Latin America.
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