LATIN AMERICA
John Child, Unequal Alliance: The Inter-American Military
System, 1938-1978 (Westview Press, 1980). $22 cloth,
253 pgs. The author, an officer in the U.S. Army and
member of the faculty of the Inter-American Defense
College, provides some inside information on the
functioning of the “Inter-American Military System.”
Yet its main purpose is not to disclose secrets, and
the jargon and ideological claptrap make its reading
quite tortuous. (Westview Press, 5500 Central
Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301.)
John Dorschner and Roberto Fabricio, The Winds of
December: Cuba 1958 (Coward, McCann and
Geoghegan, 1980). $15.95 cloth, 552 pgs. A recrea-
tion of the Cuban revolution as it unfolded in late 1958
and early 1959, written by two reporters from the
“Miami Herald. Many of their interviews (which were
recorded almost 2 decades after the events in ques-
tion) provide an interesting insight into the final days
“of fighting, but the author’s anti-communism distorts
the book’s utility. (Coward, McCann and Geoghegan,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016.)
Carlos Franqui, Diary of the Cuban Revolution (Viking
Press, 1980). $25 cloth, $16.95 paper, 546 pgs. As in
the Dorschner and Fabricio book, Franqui provides an
account of the Cuban revolution based on interviews,
letters and other documentation. This book, however,
covers the period from 1953-1959. Franqui was direc-
tor of “Radio Rebelde” and the 26th of July Move-
ment’s newspaper, Revoluci6n. He broke with the
Cuban government in the 1960s. One of the most
useful aspects of this history is the new sense which it
gives of the relations between urban and rural areas
during the guerrilla war. (Viking Press, 625 Madison
Avenue, New York, NY 10022.)
Andros Guerrero, Los oligarcas del cacao (El Conejo,
1980). $9 including air mail postage, paper, 101 pgs.
Guerrero’s study examines the emergence of
Ecuador’s coastal oligarchy and its development as a
class. The author contributes greatly to our
understanding of the origins of capitalist accumula-
tion in Ecuador and the process by which it was tied
into world capitalist markets. (Editorial El Conejo,
Casilla 4629-A, Quito, Ecuador.)
IEPALA, El Salvador y su historia and Monsefior Oscar
A. Romero, “Cese la Represi6n” (both from iEPALA,
1980). Write for prices, paper, 150 and 213 pgs.,
respectively. Useful overview of Salvadorean history
from the precolonial period to 1979 and a collection of
the speeches of the assassinated Archbishop of El
Salvador. (IEPALA, Villalar 3-1, Madrid 1, Spain.)
Latin America Bureau, Europe and Latin America: An
Annual Review of European-Latin American Relations, 1980
(Latin America Bureau, 1980). 1.95 paper, 92 pgs.
This is the third of a series which examines Britain’s
role in the region as well as European-Latin American
relations, and all have been of very high quality. Of
particular interest are the essays on European direct
investment in Brazil and “Europe and Latin America:
The Nuclear Connection.” (Latin America Bureau, PO
Box 134, London NW1 4JY, England.)
Latin America Bureau, Paraguay: Power Game (Latin
America Bureau, 1980). 1.50 paper, 76 pgs. Ex-
tremely useful book on a country whose history re-
mains neglected. This short study documents the rise
of Stroessner, his long period of rule and the current
period of repression in the country. (Latin America
Bureau, PO Box 134, London NW1 4JY, England.)
Latin America Bureau, Unity is Strength: Trade Unions
in Latin America. A Case for Solidarity (Latin America
Bureau, 1980). 2.50 paper, 132 pgs. Absolutely
essential overview of the labor movement in Latin
America. Part I contains short essays on the nature of
underdevelopment in Latin America, a history of
organized labor in the region, an overview of interna-
tional trade union organizations, etc. The second part
is a reference guide to trade unions in Latin America
and the Caribbean, and presents them on a country-
by-country basis along with some basic economic and
social statistics. (Latin America Bureau, PO Box 134,
London NW1 4JY, England.)
Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Collective,
Slaves of Slaves: The Challenge of Latin American Women
(Zed Press, 1980). $9.95 paper, 186 pgs. This volume
provides a series of essays on women’s oppression
and resistance in a number of Latin American coun-
tries as well as general articles which argue that the
Latin American women’s movement cannot be a car-
bon copy of the British or U.S. version. The book was
written by a group which has met regularly since 1972
to examine the women’s movement in Latin America.
(Available in the United States through Lawrence Hill
and Co., 520 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.)
John D. Martz and* Lars Schoultz, eds., Latin
America, the United States and the Inter-American System
(Westview Press, 1980). $24.50 cloth, 271 pgs. Nine
essays on U.S.-Latin American relations which tend to
be general in their observations and academic in their
presentation. (Westview Press, 5500 Central Avenue,
Boulder, CO 80301.)
June Nash, We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us:
Dependency and Exploitation in Bolivian Tin Mines (Colum-
bia University Press, 1979). $25 cloth,363 pgs. Nash
has written numerous books and articles which pro-
JanlFeb 1981 45
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vide the English-speaking reader with a first-hand
understanding of the process of production in the Boli-
vian mines, the relationship between the product of
the mines and international capitalism, and the
culture of the mineworkers. We Eat the Mines is one of
her best efforts, a study of capital accumulation and
class consciousness, of natural and supernatural
orders inside the mines. A fascinating book. (Colum-
bia University Press, 562 W. 113th Street, New York,
NY 10025.)
Ken W. Post, Arise Ye Starvlings: The Jamaican Labour
Rebellion of 1938 and its Aftermath (Martinus Nijhoff,
1978). $40 paper, 502 pgs. An exciting and stimulating
analysis of the Jamaican labor rebellion of 1938. Post
looks at the uprising as an index of the uneven
development of the peasantry and the working class
and shows how it is necessary to understand this pro-
cess in order to understand the rebellion. The study
also traces how the same process of uneven develop-
ment continued to shape Jamaica’s future. Highly
recommended despite its price. (Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers, PO Box 566, 2501 CN The Hague,
Netherlands.)
-rans J. Schryer, The Rancheros of Pisaflores: The
History of a Peasant Bourgeoisie in Twentieth-Century Mexico
(University of Toronto Press, 1980). $20 cloth, 210
pgs. Analysis of the role of small and medium-sized
landowners (rancheros) during the Mexican revolution.
The author argues, contrary to most researchers, that
the rancheros of central Mexico constituted a signifi-
cant political force during and after the revolution.
Schryer examines how a landowning class turned
against the Diaz government and recruited their owr
employees and tenants to fight for the revolutionary
cause. (University of Toronto Press, 33 East Tupper
St., Buffalo, NY 14203.)
MEXICAN AND CHICANO WORKERS
IN THE U.S.
Vernon M. Briggs, Jr., Walter Fogel and Fred Schmidt, The Chicano Worker (University of Texas Press, 1977). $5.95 paper, 129 pgs. A labor-market approach to the issues of undocumented immigration and the plight of foreign-born workers in the United States. The authors find that these workers are discriminated against, but argue that the only way to insure their prosperity is to “impose and enforce strong restrictions upon illegal entrants and com- muting workers . . .” Study neglects to examine the issue from the viewpoint of uneven development in the world. (University of Texas Press, PO Box 7819, Austin, TX 78712.)
Juan Ram6n Garcia, Operation Wetback: The Mass Deportation of Mexican Undocumented Workers in 1954 (Greenwood Press, 1980). $25 cloth, 268 pgs. Garcia examines the major factors behind the large influx of undocumented persons from Mexico to the United
46
States during the 1940s and early 1950s, and the massive deportation of Mexican workers in 1954. At- torney General Herbert Brownell announced a “special program” to apprehend and deport “illegal aliens” on June 9, 1954. In California alone, over 50,000 people were rounded up between June and Ju- ly. Those concerned with the rights of the un- docpmented at the present time would do well to read this account. (Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881.)
G. Thomas-Lycklama 6 Nijeholt, On the Road for Work: Migratory Workers on the East Coast of the United States (Martinus Nijhoff, 1980). $16 cloth, 213 pgs. An examination of migrant workers in the agricultural sector of 14 East Coast states which combines both statistical survey research and descriptive analysis. After studying three main groups of migrants (Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Blacks) and comparing migrant workers with non-migrant workers, the study con- cludes that (undefined) government measures should be implemented to halt the entry of new workers into the migratory farm labor stream and that the govern- ment should pass legislation to encourage farm workers to unionize and thus strengthen their bargain- ing power. (Available in the United States from: Kluwer Boston, Inc., 160 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043.)
Charles Teller, Leo Estrada, Jos6 Herndndez and David Alvirez, eds., Cuantos Somos: A Demographic Study of the Mexican-American Population (Center for Mexican- American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 1977). $5.95 paper, 254 pgs. A series of essays devoted to the problems and methodology of carrying out demographic studies of “Spanish heritage popula- tions” in the United States. Includes three essays on Mexican migration and the U.S. labor force. (Universi- ty of Texas Press, PO Box 7819, Austin, TX 78712.)
Sidney Weintraub and Stanley R. Ross, The Illegal Allen from Mexico: Policy Choices for an Intractable Issue (Mexico-United States Border Research Program, University of Texas, 1980). $3.95 paper, 75 pgs. Following a rapid summary of the various policy op- tions available to the government (open the border, close the border, do nothing), the authors recommend establishing a “guest worker” program to bring in hundreds of thousands of Mexicans on short work visas, and then closing down the border to prevent others from entering. As they note, however, this policy is similar to the Swiss “lemon policy”: first squeeze the lemon and then throw away the fruit. (University of Texas Press, PO Box 7819, Austin, TX 78712.)
FOREIGN POLICY
John L.S. Girling, America and the Third World: Revolu- tion and Intervention (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980). $25 cloth, 276 pgs. An examination of U.S. global
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policy from the perspective of patron-client relations.
The first section examines the causes of revolution in
the Third World and questions the validity of a general
theory of revolution. The second part analyzes U.S.
foreign policy and the levels of U.S. involvement in the
region, from counter-insurgency to options of limited
war. (Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ayer Building,
Lawrence, MA 01843.)
Frances Moore Lapp6, Joseph Collins, David
Kinley, Aid as Obstacle: Twenty Questions about our Foreign
Aid and the Hungry (Institute for Food and Development
Policy, 1980). $4.95 paper, 191 pgs. The Institute for
Food and Development Policy has developed a style
of pedagogical writing which is to be admired. This
study is organized around 20 questions which anyone
working on the issue of U.S. aid to foreign countries
will be called upon to answer: Don’t food aid pro-
grams get food to hungry people? Doesn’t U.S. aid
have a moderating influence on repressive foreign
governments? Isn’t food aid necessary in emergen-
cies? The answers to these questions require that
even radicals take another look at aid programs and
their future. Highly recommended. (Institute for Food
and Development Policy, 2588 Mission Street, San
Francisco, CA 94110.)
Henry Shue, Basic Rights: Subsistence, Affluence, and
U.S. Foreign Policy (Princeton University Press, 1980).
$17.50 cloth, $4.95 paper, 230 pgs. As a philosophical
approach to the issue of human rights, Shue’s book
can be tedious at times. Yet his arguments for the ac-
ceptance of “economic rights” as an important ingre-
dient of basic rights is well reasoned. Shue contends
that U.S. foreign policy, besides protecting the basic
political rights of individuals, should also protect their
“minimum economic security”: unpolluted air and
water, adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care,
etc. (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
08540.)
Holly Sklar, ed., Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission
and Elite Planning for World Management (South End
Press, 1980). $8 paper, 604 pgs. Everything you
wanted to know about the Trilateral Commission and
were afraid might be true. Is Trilateralism dead with
the New Right in power? Consider: Vice President
George Bush and Defense Secretary Casper
Weinberger are just two Trilateralists in Reagan’s ad-
ministration. More importantly, the essays on
Trilateralism and the “Crisis of Democracy” show
clearly how Trilateral ideology paved the way for a
hard turn to the right. An excellent set of essays for
history and for now. (South End Press, Box 68, Astor
Station, Boston, MA 02123.)
MISCELLANEOUS
David Brody, Workers in Industrial America: Essays on
the Twentieth Century Struggle (Oxford University Press,
1980). $14.95 cloth, 257 pgs. A series of essays which
reinterpret some major areas of U.S. labor history.
Central to Brody’s study is the struggle of workers to
assert control over their working lives versus the
determination of U.S. business to conserve the
perogatives of management. (Oxford University
Press, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016.)
Food and Nutrition Group, Boston Science for the
People, Feed, Need, Greed. Food, Resources & Population
(Science for the People, 1980). $5.50 paper, 86 pgs.
Excellent high school curriculum which brings
together in one book population issues, our system of
food production, the health risks of the American diet
and ways it can be changed. (Science for the People,
897 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139.)
Donald Freed, Death in Washington. The Murder of.
Orlando Leteller (Lawrence Hill & Co., 1980). $12.95
cloth, $6.95 paper, 254 pgs. It’s too bad that the
Senate doesn’t hold confirmation hearings on vice
presidents. If it did, Donald Freed would have had a
lot of questions for George Bush concerning the
assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington in
1976. Freed’s book asks the questions and, with a
tremendous amount of research, answers them. An
important account of CIA activities in Chile and FBI,
CIA, etc., activities in the United States. (Lawrence
Hill and Co., 520 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT
06880.)
Dorothea Mezger, Copper in the World Economy (Mon-
thly Review Press, 1980). $18 cloth, 282 pgs. As the
current administration is quick to point out, the U.S.
will place its security needs above all else in the
1980s. Metals and minerals remain a primary security
need, and Mezger’s discussion of copper provides
ample background for understanding the role they
have played historically in the world economy. Her
analysis of how the copper multinationals have struc-
tured their industry (and the world) to protect their in-
terests at the expense of the countries which produce
the copper is extremely enlightening. (Monthly Review
Press, 62 W. 14th Street, New York, NY 10011.)
New Mexico People and Energy, Who Runs New Mex-
ico? The New Mexico Power Structure Report (NMPE,
1980). $2.50 paper, 52 pgs. As the title states, this is a
“power structure” study of New Mexico. It examines
who owns and controls the land and resources of the
state as well as providing information on federal and
state-level government officials in New Mexico. It
would be nice to have 49 more reports like this on the
other states. (New Mexico People and Energy, PO Box
4726, Albuquerque, NM 87196.)
Paul Zarembka, ed., Research in Political Economy, Vol.
III (JAI Press, 1980). $29.50 cloth, 290 pgs. Seven
essays on political economy and political theory
which include two articles on capital and the state, an
overview of the accumulation of industrial capital in
Colombia, and an interesting piece on the implications
of the Bakke decision. (JAI Press, 165 Putnam
Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830.)
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