Anarchism in El Salvador

Last updated

Anarchism in El Salvador reached its peak during the labour movement of the 1920s, in which anarcho-syndicalists played a leading role. The movement was subsequently suppressed by the military dictatorship before experiencing a resurgence in the 21st century.

Contents

History

Following the independence of El Salvador, power and property began to concentrate in the hands of an oligarchy, as the country's economy became centered around the production and export of coffee. In 1871, the ruling conservative government of Francisco Dueñas was overthrown by the liberal Santiago González, who completed the country's transformation into what has been described as a "coffee republic". [1] Liberal rule was eventually consolidated by the military, with a liberal military junta holding power continuously and each president officially designating their successor.

Early anarcho-syndicalism in El Salvador

By this time, anarchism had already been spread to El Salvador by the French individualist anarchist Anselme Bellegarrigue, who had fled there from the repression of the Second French Empire, beginning the dissemination of anarchist ideas throughout the country during the latter half of the 19th century. In 1904, the lawyer Enrique Córdova published La perspectiva teórica del anarquismo, becoming the first known Salvadoran anarchist, himself inspired by the works of Peter Kropotkin and Leo Tolstoy. [2] At the turn of the 20th century, an organized labour movement had arisen in El Salvador, forming an opposition to the country's ruling oligarchy, [3] and anarcho-syndicalism began to develop among Salvadoran workers. [4] Anarchist publications subsequently spread throughout the country, with the Ritos being first published in 1908 and the Renovación being first published in 1911. [5]

Eventually, the tensions between the workers and oligarchs boiled over in 1913, when president Manuel Enrique Araujo was assassinated by coffee farmers. [6] This assassination led to a period of one-party rule by the National Democratic Party, which continued the liberal military administration's policy of monoculture coffee production. [7] It was in this political climate that Salvadoran anarchists formed the country's first trade unions and became key participants in the resistance movement against the oligarchy. [8] The first Salvadoran Workers' Congress was held in Armenia, Sonsonate, [9] in which two hundred delegates of workers' organizations agreed to the immediate objective of founding a national workers union, comprising all workers' unions of the time. [10] Thus, anarcho-syndicalists founded the Unión Obrera Salvadoreña (UOS) in 1922 and the Federación Regional de Trabajadores de El Salvador (FRTS) in 1924, although the latter became predominantly Marxist in 1929. [11] This caused a split within the FRTS, after which the Centro Sindical Libertario was established in 1930, becoming the first specifically anarchist organization in El Salvador. [12]

When the Great Depression brought with it a collapse in coffee prices, the country's economy became unable to sustain itself through its one main industry. [13] In the aftermath, the country's first free and fair elections were held, [13] in which the Labor Party candidate Arturo Araujo was elected as President of El Salvador. [14] [15] Although he had progressive ideals, having promised food, clothing, work and housing to every Salvadoran, Araujo was himself a landowner and took power in the midst of massive labor and student strikes. He declared martial law to suppress the strikes, but the military soon turned on him too. Supported by the country's oligarchy, Araujo was overthrown in a coup d'état led by the Civic Directory, which established a military dictatorship. [16] [17]

Under the military dictatorship

Under the rule of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez and the far-right National Pro Patria Party began to repress the labour movement. When the Communist Party won several seats during the 1932 legislative election, the government cancelled the results of the election. [18] [19] This culminated in the 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising, driven by communists, anarcho-syndicalists and indigenous peasants. [20] However, the revolt was brutally suppressed by the government, killing tens of thousands of people, most of whom were indigenous Pipil people. [21] [22] As a result, the Salvadoran anarchist movement, including the Centro Sindical Libertario, was largely dissolved or driven underground. [23] The government subsequently pursued a brutal campaign of repression until 1944, when Salvadoran students organized a general strike which resulted in the overthrow of the Martinez regime. [24] [25]

However, the overthrow of Martínez did not bring the end of the military dictatorship, which continued to rule the country under a series of right-wing parties, supported by the United States for its anti-communist stance. [18] In the 1970s, the left-wing was revitalized by the student movement, which saw the Revolutionary Left Movement bringing together Trotskyists, anarchists and Marxists which supported armed struggle against the regime. [26] The military dictatorship was finally overthrown in the 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état, which brought the moderate Revolutionary Government Junta to power, overseeing the transition to democracy. But this also ignited the Salvadoran Civil War, in which the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front brought together a broad coalition of revolutionary socialists, syndicalists and anarchists to fight against the US-backed government. Tens of thousands of people died during the war and an unknown number were forcibly disappeared. [27] [28] [29] With the ratification of the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992, the FMLN disarmed itself and the country's left-wing organizations were once against legalized. Soon after the FMLN became one of the country's largest political parties, forming the Salvadoran government from 2009 to 2019.

The contemporary anarchist movement

Since the end of the civil war, the Salvadoran anarchist movement slowly began to re-emerge, as counter-cultural Salvadoran youth movements took up anarchism to criticize the country's politics, from outside any political parties. In 2002, the hardcore punk scene of San Salvador brought punks, skinheads and straight edge people together into the Salvadoran Anarchist Movement (MAS). The organization published pamphlets and fanzines at punk concerts, but soon began to make their presence felt in the streets. On May 1, 2003, the MAS paraded through the streets of the capital as part of the May Day celebrations. In 2004, members of the MAS and the veganarchist Célula de Liberación Animal (CLA) came together to form the Libertarian Action Collective (KAL), dedicated to the publication of anarchist and vegan ideas through literature, music and direct action. Other anarchist organizations also began to emerge around the capital, including the Anarchist Social Action Collective (KASA), the Salvadoran Anarchist Revolutionary Circle (CRAS) and the Kolectivo Resistencia Libertaria (KRL). Acción Directa (AD) also arose as a result of a libertarian split from the FMLN's youth bloc. From 2006, efforts were made to strengthen ties between the various anarchist organizations in El Salvador. This culminated with the above groups coming together to participate in a coordinated large-scale action at the May Day celebrations of 2008, under the banner of the Coordinadora Anarquista (CA). The work continued in an attempt to unify and support the various groups as part of a horizontal organization. [30]

In 2015, the Agrupación Conciencia Anarquista was established and began publishing the anarchist magazine Aurora, forming the Salvadoran chapter of the Anarchist Federation of Central America and the Caribbean (FACC). [31]

Related Research Articles

Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in broader society. The end goal of syndicalism is to abolish the wage system, regarding it as wage slavery. Anarcho-syndicalist theory generally focuses on the labour movement. Reflecting the anarchist philosophy from which it draws its primary inspiration, anarcho-syndicalism is centred on the idea that power corrupts and that any hierarchy that cannot be ethically justified must be dismantled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federación Anarquista Ibérica</span> Spanish anarchist federation

The Iberian Anarchist Federation is a Spanish organization of anarchist militants active within affinity groups in the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) anarcho-syndicalist union. It is often abbreviated as CNT-FAI because of the close relationship between the two organizations. The FAI publishes the periodical Tierra y Libertad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sébastien Faure</span> French anarchist (1858–1942)

Sébastien Faure was a French anarchist, convicted sex offender, freethought and secularist activist and a principal proponent of synthesis anarchism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Peirats</span> Spanish newspaper editor (1908-1989)

José Peirats Valls (1908–1989) was a Spanish anarchist, activist, journalist and historian.

<i>La Matanza</i> 1932 peasant revolt in El Salvador

La Matanza refers to a communist-indigenous rebellion that took place in El Salvador between 22 and 25 January 1932. It was succeeded by large-scale government killings in western El Salvador, which resulted in the deaths of 10,000 to 40,000 people.

Anarchism as a social movement in Cuba held great influence with the working classes during the 19th and early 20th century. The movement was particularly strong following the abolition of slavery in 1886, until it was repressed first in 1925 by President Gerardo Machado, and more thoroughly by Fidel Castro's Marxist–Leninist government following the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s. Cuban anarchism mainly took the form of anarcho-collectivism based on the works of Mikhail Bakunin and, later, anarcho-syndicalism. The Latin American labor movement, and by extension the Cuban labor movement, was at first more influenced by anarchism than Marxism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anarchism in Argentina</span>

The Argentinian anarchist movement was the strongest such movement in South America. It was strongest between 1890 and the start of a series of military governments in 1930. During this period, it was dominated by anarchist communists and anarcho-syndicalists. The movement's theories were a hybrid of European anarchist thought and local elements, just as it consisted demographically of both European immigrant workers and native Argentinians.

Anarchism in Ecuador appeared at the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century it started to gain influence in sectors of organized workers and intellectuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military dictatorship in El Salvador</span> 1931–1979 military regime in El Salvador

The Salvadoran military dictatorship was the period of time in Salvadoran history where the Salvadoran Armed Forces governed the country for almost 48 years from 2 December 1931 until 15 October 1979. The authoritarian military dictatorship limited political rights throughout the country and maintained its governance through rigged and fixed elections.

Anarchism in Bolivia has a relatively short but rich history, spanning over a hundred years, primarily linked to syndicalism, the peasantry, and various social movements. Its heyday was during the 20th century's first decades, between 1910 and 1930, but a number of contemporary movements still exist.

Anarchism in Venezuela has historically played a fringe role in the country's politics, being consistently smaller and less influential than equivalent movements in much of the rest of South America. It has, however, had a certain impact on the country's cultural and political evolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lola Iturbe</span> Spanish anarcho-syndicalist (1902–1990)

Lola (Dolores) Iturbe was a prominent Spanish anarcho-syndicalist, trade unionist, activist, and journalist during the Second Spanish Republic, and a member of the French Resistance during the Battle of France. She co-founded the anarcho-feminist movement, Mujeres Libres, and of the Comité de Milicias Antifascistas during the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anarchism in Chile</span>

The anarchist movement in Chile emerged from European immigrants, followers of Mikhail Bakunin affiliated with the International Workingmen's Association, who contacted Manuel Chinchilla, a Spaniard living in Iquique. Their influence could be perceived at first within the labour unions of typographers, painters, builders and sailors. During the first decades of the 20th century, anarchism had a significant influence on the labour movement and intellectual circles of Chile. Some of the most prominent Chilean anarchists were: the poet Carlos Pezoa Véliz, the professor Dr Juan Gandulfo, the syndicalist workers Luis Olea, Magno Espinoza, Alejandro Escobar y Carballo, Ángela Muñoz Arancibia, Juan Chamorro, Armando Triviño and Ernesto Miranda, the teacher Flora Sanhueza, and the writers José Domingo Gómez Rojas, Fernando Santiván, José Santos González Vera and Manuel Rojas. At the moment, anarchist groups are experiencing a comeback in Chile through various student collectives, affinity groups, community and cultural centres, and squatting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palm Sunday Coup</span> 1944 attempted coup détat in El Salvador

The Palm Sunday Coup was an attempted military coup d'état in El Salvador which occurred in early-April 1944. The coup was staged by pro-Axis sympathizers in the Salvadoran Army against President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.

Anarchism in Colombia was a political movement that emerged from the disparate social movements of the 19th-century, becoming an organized force in the 1910s and 1920s. After a period of recession, the movement re-emerged in the late 20th century, with the rise of counter-cultural, left-wing and indigenous resistance movements.

Anarchism in Panama began as an organized movement among immigrant workers, brought to the country to work on the numerous megaprojects throughout its history.

Anarchism in Costa Rica emerged in the 1890s, when it first came to the attention of the country's ruling elites, including the Catholic Church.

Anarchism in Nicaragua emerged during the United States occupation of Nicaragua, when the workers' movement was first organized against the interests of foreign capital. This led to a synthesis of Latin American anarchism with the goals of national liberation, which influenced the early Sandinista movement.

Anarchism in the Dominican Republic first surfaced in the late 19th century, as part of the nascent workers' movement.

Anarchism in Guatemala emerged from the country's labor movement in the late 19th century. Anarcho-syndicalism rose to prominence in the early 20th century, reaching its peak during the 1920s, before being suppressed by the right-wing dictatorship of Jorge Ubico.

References

  1. ↑ Federal Research Division Library of Congress (1990). Haggerty, Richard A. (ed.). El Salvador: A Country Study (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress. p. 9-10. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. ↑ Argueta, Ricardo (2014). "El primer pensador anarquista en El Salvador (1904)" (in Spanish). Análisis sociológico boletín. pp. 3–14.
  3. ↑ Acuña Ortega, Víctor Hugo (1993). "Clases subalternas y movimientos sociales en Centroamérica (1870-1930)". In Edelberto Torres Rivas (ed.). Historia General de Centroamérica (in Spanish). Madrid: Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. ISBN   9788486956288. OCLC   600810176.
  4. ↑ Launed, Carles (1978). El anarcosindicalismo en el siglo XX. Colección de formación e interpretación libertaria (in Spanish). Barcelona.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ↑ Nettlau, Max (1979). La anarquía a través de los tiempos . Colección Documento. Barcelona: Antalbe. ISBN   9788436514452. OCLC   7197984.
  6. ↑ Kuny Mena, Enrique (11 May 2003). "A 90 años del magnicidio Doctor Manuel Enrique Araujo" [90 Years after the Assassination of Doctor Manuel Enrique Araujo]. Vértice (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  7. ↑ Paige, Jeffery M. (1993). "Coffee and Power in El Salvador". Latin American Research Review. The Latin American Studies Association. 28 (3): 7–40. doi:10.1017/S0023879100016940. JSTOR   2503609. S2CID   252914247.
  8. ↑ Taracena Arriola, Arturo (1984). "La confederación obrera de Centro América 1921-1928". Anuario de Estudios Centroamericanos (in Spanish). Vol. 10. p. 83. ISSN   0377-7316. OCLC   5547311486.
  9. ↑ Menjivar, Rafael (1982). Formación y lucha del proletariado industrial salvadoreño (in Spanish). San Salvador: Central American University. p. 39. OCLC   491060228.
  10. ↑ Arias Gómez, Jorge (1996). Farabundo Martí (in Spanish) (1 ed.). San José, Costa Rica: EDUCA. p. 51. OCLC   988746727.
  11. ↑ Menjívar Larín, Rafael (1985). "Notas sobre el movimiento obrero salvadoreño". In González Casanova (ed.). Historia del movimiento obrero en América Latina (in Spanish). Siglo Veintiuno. pp. 73–74. ISBN   9789682312298. OCLC   159854916.
  12. ↑ Tercena Arriola, Arturo (1990). "Un salvadoreño en la historia de Guatemala: Entrevista con Miguel Ángel Vásquez Equizabal". Boletín del Centro de Estudios del Movimiento Obrero y Socialista de México (in Spanish). Memoria. p. 19.
  13. 1 2 Federal Research Division Library of Congress (1990). Haggerty, Richard A. (ed.). El Salvador: A Country Study (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress. p. 14. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  14. ↑ Grieb, Kenneth J. (1971). "The United States and the Rise of General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez". Journal of Latin American Studies. 3 (2): 152. doi:10.1017/S0022216X00001425. JSTOR   156558. S2CID   146607906.
  15. ↑ Nohlen, Dieter (2005). Elections in the Americas: A Data Handbook. Vol. 1. p. 287.
  16. ↑ Grieb, Kenneth J. (1971). "The United States and the Rise of General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez". Journal of Latin American Studies. 3 (2): 152. doi:10.1017/S0022216X00001425. JSTOR   156558. S2CID   146607906.
  17. ↑ Federal Research Division Library of Congress (1990). Haggerty, Richard A. (ed.). El Salvador: A Country Study (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress. p. 200. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  18. 1 2 Beverley, John (1982). "El Salvador". Social Text. Duke University Press (5): 55–72. doi:10.2307/466334. JSTOR   466334.
  19. ↑ Lungo Uclés, Mario (1996). El Salvador in the Eighties: Counterinsurgency and Revolution. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 114.
  20. ↑ Roque, Dalton (2000). Miguel Mármol: Los sucesos de 1932 en El Salvador. Colección Testigos de la historia (in Spanish) (3 ed.). San Salvador: Central American University. p. 261. ISBN   9788484051848. OCLC   493045652.
  21. ↑ Anderson, Thomas P. (1971). Matanza: El Salvador's Communist Revolt of 1932. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 88–91. ISBN   9780803207943.
  22. ↑ Federal Research Division Library of Congress (1990). Haggerty, Richard A. (ed.). El Salvador: A Country Study (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress. p. 16. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  23. ↑ Roque, Dalton (2000). Miguel Mármol: Los sucesos de 1932 en El Salvador. Colección Testigos de la historia (in Spanish) (3 ed.). San Salvador: Central American University. p. 264. ISBN   9788484051848. OCLC   493045652.
  24. ↑ Ackerman, Peter; Duval, Jack (2000). A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict. New York: Palgrave. pp. 241–265.
  25. ↑ Parkman, Patricia (1988). Nonviolent Insurrection in El Salvador: The Fall of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
  26. ↑ González, Medardo (2008). Rufino Antonio Quezada; Hugo Roger Martínez (eds.). 25 años de de estudio y lucha: Una cronología del movimiento estudiantil. Colección Memoria histórica de la Universidad de El Salvador (in Spanish) (2 ed.). San Salvador: University of El Salvador. p. 36. ISBN   9789992327432. OCLC   711902901.
  27. ↑ Report of the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador (Report). United Nations. April 1, 1993.
  28. ↑ "'Removing the Veil': El Salvador Apologizes for State Violence on 20th Anniversary of Peace Accords". NACLA. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  29. ↑ "El Salvador's Funes apologizes for civil war abuses". Reuters. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  30. ↑ Ortiz Díaz, Wilfredo Salvador (2 August 2009). "Breve bosquejo histórico del anarquismo en El Salvador". Anarkismo.net. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  31. ↑ Elisa (18 January 2020). "El Salvador: An Anarcha-Feminist Perspective". The Final Straw Radio. Retrieved 18 February 2021.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.