7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

1/23

Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism in South AmericaAuthor(s): S. Fanny SimonReviewed work(s):Source: The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Feb., 1946), pp. 38-59Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2507692 .

Accessed: 04/04/2012 15:11

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Duke University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Hispanic

American Historical Review.

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=dukehttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2507692?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2507692?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=duke

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

2/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISMJN SOUTH AMERICABy 1850 the wars which had come to the newly emancipatedcountries of South America were for the most part over. Withpeace came the possibility of economic development. Railroadswere built; harbors were improved; other public works were begun,largely with the help of foreign capital and immigrant labor. Im-migrants began coming to South America in greater numbers afterthe Franco-Prussian War and the defeat of the Paris Commune.Immigration brought new workers, new skills, and a new fer-ment. It was a natural consequence of this immigration thatanarchism should be the first ideological development of the work-ing-class movement in the South American countries. Anarchismand anarcho-syndicalism have had their greatest influence inSpain and in Italy, the countries which contributed the greatestnumber of immigrants to South America. Many of the immi-

grants had been exposed to the new political and philosophicalideas, and some of them had participated in their homelands inthe struggles which these ideas had brought. Others had, in fact,been forced to migrate to the New World because of their partici-pation in radical movements. These new immigrants were theprime movers in the anarcho-syndicalist agitations that assumedconsiderable proportions, especially in Argentina, during the firsttwo decades of the twentieth century.The political life of the Latin-American nations was anotherfactor in the influence which anarchism exerted. Fraud, violence,and control by landed oligarchs were the rule in South America.Many workers, accordingly, came to believe that direct ratherthen political action was the only way to improve their status.Moreover, violence in industrial relations has generally charac-terized countries of incipient capitalism. It has especially beentrue, as was the case in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, where theworkershave been newly arrived immigrants and their employersnatives or foreign imperialists.

IIn Argentina anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism had theirgreatest South American development. In militancy and in in-

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

3/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 39fluence he Argentinemovementcompared avorablywith that ofSpainand Italy. As early as 1874,there existed in Argentinaanumberofsectionsof the InternationalWorkingmen'sAssociationfounded by Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin. By 1879, theanarchistswere definitelyin control of these sections. The realflorescenceof the anarchistand anarcho-syndicalistmovement,however,came after 1890,althoughthe groundfor it was laid inthe 1880'sby the presenceof anarchistsof the statureof EnricoMalatestaandH6ctorMattei. Malatestaremained n Argentinaonlyfouryearsandthenreturned o Europe. In the briefperiodhe wasin Argentinahe lent strengthand influence o the incipientanarchistmovement, in which two types of tactics, stemmingfromdifferentsources,were being debated. There were anarch-ists who had been influencedby Stirnermore than by BakuninorPrince Peter Kropotkinand who, therefore,insisted upon indi-vidual action rather than collective organization. Mattei andMalatesta threw their influence behind collective action andhelped to organizea numberof laborunions.'Although the anarchists of South America never neglectededucationandeveryformof propaganda,heirmainactivity dur-ing the firsttwodecadesof the twentiethcenturywasin the trade-unionfield. El perseguido, he anarchistorgan foundedin 1890,advocated collective action. A still more effective pleader forsuch a coursewas La protestahumana,whichappeared n BuenosAires in 1897.2 The forces working for collective action werefurtherstrengthenedby Pedro Gori who came to Buenos Airesin 1899.3The greatest period of anarchistmilitancy in Argentinacor-respondedto the time when anarchists were most active in thetrade-unions. On March25 and 26, 1901, a congresswas held tounite the unions which had been growing in number and instrength. By 1896, there existed in Buenos Aires alone thirtyunions, and twenty-sixstrikes had taken place. Fifty delegatesrepresenting hirty-fiveunions were present at the congress, romwhichresultedthe LaborFederationof Argentina,knownat firstas the F. 0. A. (Federaci6nObreraArgentina) and later as the

1 DiegoA. de Santillin,El movimientonarquista n la ArgentinaBuenosAires,1930),pp. 34-38.2 Policfa de la CapitalFederal,Divisi6n"OrdenPTblico,"Secci6nSocial,Memoriainformesobrenuestras cuestionesobrerasy sectarian(Buenos Aires, 1910), p. 47. In 1909the wordhumanawas dropped. As La protestat becamethe most influentialanarchistnewspaper.Santilldn, p. cit.,pp. 69-72.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

4/23

40 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWF. 0. R. A. (Federaci6n Obrera Regional Argentina).4 It was notuntil the fifth congress of the F. 0. R. A. in 1905, however, thatanarchist influence was thoroughly established. Until then otherinfluences, especially socialist, were fighting the anarchists forcontrol of the trade-union movement. At the fifth congress thedelegates adopted the following resolution which committed thefederation to the anarchist philosophy:The Fifth Congress,pursuantto the philosophicalprinciples hat havebeenthemotivating orce n the organization f the workers' ederations,declares hat it favorsand recommendso all its adherentsthe widestpublicityandeducation or the purposeof inculcating n the workers heeconomicand philosophicalprinciplesof anarchisticcommunism.,

Inspired by the strikes of Barcelona, and in accordance withtheir philosophy of direct action, the anarchists of' Argentinalaunched wave after wave of strikes. These were both economicand political in purpose. In March, 1902, a strike of teamstersagainst "fink" books was successful. The bakers of Chivilcoylost a strike which lasted twenty-four days. In Rosario a strikeof the stevedores became a general strike. Strikes for the nine-hour day were won by coppersmiths and mechanics of BuenosAires in February of the same year. In November the port work-ers obtained an increase in wages and improved working condi-tions without a strike. The organization had supposedly morethan three thousand members. The most important strike of theyear was that of the fruit handlers. The entire membership ofthe F. 0. R. A. was about to participate in this strike when thegovernment presumably broke it by the passage of the Anti-AlienAct. Between 1903 and 1904 there took place twelve generalstrikes, as well as many others in individual industries or plants.6A new wave of strikes began in 1905 and continued with uninter-

Jos6 Rodrfguez Tarditi, "Informaci6n social," Revista de ciencias econdmicas, AfioXV, serie II, No. 72 (July, 1927), 874.5For the complete text of this declaration, see Rodriguez Tarditi, op. cit., p. 876. Seealso, Jacinto Oddone, Historia del socialismo argentino (2 vols., Buenos Aires, 1934), II,111. Oddone's work is a virtual source book for the study of the labor movement in Argen-tina. His work contains reproductions of a number of original documents, as well assummaries of resolutions adopted at various labor congresses.

6 Santillin, " 'La Protesta', su historia, sus diversas fases y su significaci6n en elmovimiento anarquista de Am6rica del Sur," in Certdmeninternational de La protesta(Buenos Aires, 1927), p. 47 (hereinafter cited as "La protesta"). This is a volume con-taining articles and documents of the anarchist movement in Latin America and waspublished upon the thirtieth anniversary of La protesta, the most important anarchistorgan of Argentina.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

5/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 41rupted vigor until May, 1910, when the first period, sometimescalled the period of greatest glory of the anarchist movement,came to an end.7

In addition to strikes against employers, the anarchists ledstrikes against the high cost of living, especially high rents. Thegeneral strikes were frequently political in nature. The govern-ment of Argentina was hardly a model of impartiality, and itwas charged by the workers with openly using its power to crushstrikes, arrest hundreds, raid and close union headquarters, anddestroy the printing establishments of working-class politicaland trade-union groups. The police was accused of looking theother way when super-patriotic organizations went on the ram-page, destroying furniture and even burning the presses of an-archist publications. As the movement assumed character andmilitancy, the government replied with greater repression, de-claring a state of siege five times in eight years. During a stateof siege no working-class activity was permitted.On November 20, 1902, the anarchists called upon the workersto reply to the government's threat to enact legislation harmfulto the workers' movement by a general strike. This call washeeded not only by the unions of Buenos Aires but by many in theinterior of the country as well. The government responded bydeclaring a state of siege, for the first time using this weapon tocombat strike action. Later, the state of siege became the usualway to cope with militancy of the workers.After the state of siege was declared, it was followed by theraiding of union headquarters, the shutting down of the presses,and the seizure of the newspapers already printed. Congress wascalled into special session, and after deliberating only four hours,it passed an anti-alien bill which was promptly signed by thepresident. The resulting act gave the government the right todeport any undesirable alien and to prevent the entry into thecountry of aliens deemed undesirable. Any alien whose depor-tation was ordered was given three days to leave the country andcould be held incommunicado until he left.8

7According to Oddone (op. cit., II, 407), the yearly numbers of strikes during thisperiod were: 1903, 51; 1904, 188; 1905, 111; 1906, 170; 1907, 231; 1908, 118; 1909, 138;1910, 298. These figures are for the city of Buenos Aires only. The police in its reportfor 1910 gives two general strikes and 145 other strikes as taking place in Buenos Airesduring 1909. There were 205,619 workers involved in them, and these lost 3,980,000 pesosin wages. For an evaluation of the forces involved see, Policia de la Capital Federal,Division "Orden Piblico," Secci6n Social, Memoria e informe sobre nuestras cuestionesobrerasy sectarias, p. 30.

8Santil1n, "La protesta," loc. cit., pp. 42-43. For the Anti-Alien Act, see Oddone,op. cit., II, 10.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

6/23

42 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWThe law was often applied with especial cruelty. Since most ofthe leaders and the vast majority of the rank and file were aliens,the law might have been used to bring about mass expulsions. A

great many leaders were actually deported; others went into hid-ing; some managed to go to neighboring Montevideo, and of thesenot a few re-entered afterwards. But on the whole, the lawstimulated rather than killed the militancy of the anarchists. Atthe same time, it caused many unions to disappear altogether anddecimated the membership of others. The persecutions alsotended to bring about a tremendous turnover in the unions. Manyworkers either dropped out of membership altogether or becameinactive after a few years of strenuous activity.The fight for the repeal of the Anti-Alien Act became thecentral theme in anarchist activity and led to many demonstra-tions, which in turn called forth other repressions on the part ofthe government. Anarchist sources maintain that after the pas-sage of the Anti-Alien Act the police presumably looked upon allstrikes as criminal and treated them as such. May Day demon-strations, too, were often occasions for clashes with the police,as for instance on May 1, 1903. According to eyewitness ac-counts of this episode, the demonstration of the F. 0. R. A.started out peacefully, with women and children heading theparade. When the marching column was detained by a streetcar,some of the marchers taunted the motorman and the conductor,denouncing them for working on May Day. The police inter-fered, and the result was two dead and twenty-four wounded.9Another encounter with the police took place in Rosario andgrew out of a bakers' strike in which one of the strikers was shot.It is asserted that the police feared a demonstration and pro-ceeded to bury the body. The workers, in turn, staged a silentmarch to the cemetary and were met by the police, where moreblood flowed. The answer of the workers was a general strikewhich lasted three days. A forty-eight-hour stoppage was de-claredby the workers of Buenos Aires in support of the strikers ofRosario.On February 4, 1905, the government again declared a state ofsiege. This time the occasion was the attempted seizure of powerby the Radical Civic Party. Although the workers had nothingto do with the revolt, nevertheless their union headquarters wasclosed, many were arrested and deported, and working-class pub-lications were suspended. The government is supposed to have

9Santillin, "La protesta," loc. cit., p. 47.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

7/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 43usedthe uprising o suppressa numberof strikesthen in progress,the most importantof which was that of the railroadworkers.'0After the state of siege was lifted on May 5, 1905, the entireorganized abormovement,anarchistand non-anarchist,demon-stratedagainst the governmenton May 21. Onthe pretextthatsomeone had waved a red flag, the showingof which had beenprohibited,the police-attacked the crowd; and once again theresultwastwo deadandtwenty wounded. In October,1905,thegovernmentagain declared a state of siege and thus broke thestrike of stevedores, sailors, and marine firemen for improvedconditionsof work."Two subsequentattacks by the police broughtprotests frommany groups. The first occurred on July 23, 1907, in BahiaBlanca,'2 nd the otheron May 1, 1909, n BuenosAires. In BahiaBlancaa groupof maritimepolice attacked, supposedlywithoutprovocation, striking port workerswho were meeting at theirunionheadquartersn the Casadel Pueblo. The policefirekilleda twelve-year-old hild andseriouslywoundedsix workers.Bloodwasagainspilled n BuenosAireson May 1, 1909,whenthe policeattacked an anarchistdemonstration. The attack took place inthe presenceof the chief of police, Colonel Ram6n L. Falc6n.Workersgenerallyblamed him for the death of eight and thewoundingof forty, some of them rathercritically. So greatwasthe outcry againstthe policethat the SocialistParty, whichhadalways fought the anarchists and had not participatedin theirdemonstration,made commoncause with them and called for ageneral strike. The strike lasted a week and involved some250,000workers.13Police violenceagainstanarchistsreacheda new highin May,

10Oddone,op. cit., II, 34-35.u Ibid., pp. 37-39.12 Known also as IngenieroWhite.13 That same day the Executive Committeeof the SocialistParty issued the call for ageneralstrike which read in part as follows: "Trabajadores: l Comit6Ejecutivo delPartidoSocialista, nterpretando l sentimientode la clasetrabajadora pongauna vallaa la acci6ntorpe y brutaldel Gobierno; considerando ue s6lo unaactitud solidariadelproletariado uedeobtenereste resultado,el Comit6Ejecutivoexhortaa la clase obreraa la huelgageneraldesdeel dfalunes 3 del corriente,protestando ontra a masacreprole.taria,exigiendoa renunciadel Jefe de Policia,CoronelFalc6n,reclamandoainstrucci6n

de un sumarioy el castigode los culpables.lAbajo os asesinosdel pueblo!IViva a huelgageneral"See, Partido SocialistaArgentino,Movimientoocialistay obreroBuenosAires, 1910),pp. 18-19.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

8/23

44 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW1910. The anarchists had threatened to call a general strike tocoincide with the centenary celebration of Argentine independenceon May 25. At their meeting of May 8, they announced thatunless the government repealed the Anti-Alien Act, freed working-class political prisoners, and granted amnesty to conscriptiondodgers, they would call a general strike for May 25. On May 13the government began to round up anarchist leaders. In a fewhours many were in prison, including the editors of La protestaandLa batalla,the morning and evening anarchist dailies, members ofthe council of the F. 0. R. A., and other leaders. On the four-teenth came a declaration of the state of siege for an indefiniteperiod. Under the protection of this act, members of "patriotic"organizations gave vent to their anger by wrecking the head-quartersof unions. Even the socialist newspaper, La vanguardia,did not escape. La vanguardiawas sacked and the presses com-pletely destroyed. Not a union headquarters escaped harm. Thepolice looked on and, according the accounts of the anarchists andthe socialists, did nothing to stop the vandals.14To the' violence of the police the anarchists' answer was notalways the strike, the boycott, or even sabotage. Individuals,excited by the violence of the police and the suffering resultingfrom deportations and arrests, attempted to assassinate thosewhom they considered responsible. Individual acts of terrorismwhen joint action was ineffective were accepted by most anarch-ists, who regarded them as legitimate in the circumstances. Ananarchist tried to kill President Quintana on August 11, 1905, inprotest against the brutality of the Rosario police.'5The act of individual terror that most roused the fury of thewell-to-do was the killing of the chief of police, ColonelFalc6n,who, as has already been pointed out, was held responsible for themassacre on May 1, 1909. The assassin was Simon Radowitzky,a youth of nineteen born in Kiev, Russia. He was pardoned in1930, after twenty years in jail; but at the time the deed was per-petrated, feeling against him and anarchists generally was at theboiling point. This assassination, together with the explosion ofa bomb in the Teatro Col6n, resulted in the passage of the SocialDefense Act. No lives were lost in this explosion, since the operahouse was empty. Anarchists'insist that the act was done by thepolice, in order to give the government the excuse to pass re-strictive legislation against workers in general. They base their

14Ibid., pp. 189-193.15 Santillhn, El movimientoanarquistaen la Argentina, p. 171.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

9/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 45contention on the fact that although a Russian anarchist wassentenced for the deed, the police never really proved that he wasthe author.'6On the other hand, an action that aroused the anarchists andworkers generally was the killing of Kurt Wilikens in June, 1923,while the latter was being tried for the assassination of ColonelVarela. Wilikens considered Varela responsible for the death ofmany workers in the strike of the sheepherders of Patagoniain 1921.1'The Law of Social Defense -gave the government power toprevent the entry into the country of persons who had committedcrimes punishable under the laws of Argentina. It also prohibitedthe entry of anarchists or of any one who had at any time beenexpelled from the country. The ship companies were held re-sponsible for bringing undesirable aliens into the country and weremade to repatriate them. The law forbade the organization ofany group which had as its objective anarchist propaganda. Per-mission from the proper authorities had to be obtained for theholding of any public meeting, indoor or outdoor. These authori-ties had the power to refuse to grant a permit, if they believed thatthe meeting was for the purpose of advocating illegal ideas. Theycould stop a meeting for which authorization had been obtained,if during the course of it subversive ideas were expressed. Thepolice evidently were to judge whether ideas were legal or illegal.The display of the red flag was forbidden.The law provided for the imprisonment during one to threeyears of anyone who by word of mouth or in writing defendedsubversive ideas, and for three to six years for those who werefound to have manufactured or aided in the manufacture ofexplosives or bombs to be used for terroristic purposes. Anyonefound placing a bomb was subject to from six to ten years inprison. If the placing of the bomb resulted in property damageor in the intent to do such damage, the person found guilty couldbe jailed for ten to fifteen years. The penalty for damaging orintending to damage a public building or one used for political oradministrative meetings was fifteen to twenty years. When itresulted in killing an individual, those responsible for the deedwere to receive the death penalty. The law also establishedequivalent penalties for anyone charged with being an accomplice.One who incited others by threats or intimidation to strike or

16 Oddone, op. cit., II, 81-82.17 SantillAn, La F. 0. R. A. (Buenos Aires, 1933), pp. 283-284.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

10/23

46 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWboycott was subject to imprisonment. All who were convictedunder this act lost all civil rights. A naturalizedcitizen had hiscitizenshiprevoked.'8 The law is still on the statute books andalien workerswhoparticipate n strikes or are active in unions orrevolutionary organizationshave been deported or imprisonedunderit as late as 1943.The violenceand suppressionwhichcamewith the passageofthe Law of Social Defense ended the first period of anarchistmilitancyin Argentina. The law did not, however, destroy theanarchistmovement;and activity was graduallyrenewed. TheF. 0. R. A. beganat firsttimidly andthen moreboldlyto carryononce more. In spite of arrestsand the burningof the printingpressesof La protestaand of other anrchistpublications,writtenpropagandawas presumablynever entirelysuppressed. La pro-testawaspublished llegally,and anarchistsources nsist that fromsevento ten thousandcopiesweredistributedclandestinelyeveryweekforalmosttwo years.'9 By 1913 the police persecutionshadeased; new publicationsunder anarchistauspiceswere started;andonJuly20 of that year,La protestabecameonceagaina daily.The victory at the polls of the more progressive orcesafter1912, as a result of the law assuring he secret ballot and of legis-lation favorableto the workers, ended to wean these away fromanarchist nfluences. On the otherhand,the outbreakof the warin 1914, which broughtan increaseddemandfor workers and arapidrisein the cost of living,stimulatedgreatermilitancy. After1917there was felt, also, the influenceof the Russian Revolution.Consequently,duringthe years 1917, 1919,and 1921, Argentinaexperiencedsome of its bitterest labor struggles. On June 10,1917, a clash occurredbetween the police and demonstratorsagainstthe highcost of living. Excitementwas further ncreasedby the escape from prisonof the anarchist,Simon Radowitzky,his capture n Chileanddeliveryto the Argentineauthorities,andhis returnto prison.During the week of January 7, 1919, violence broke out infront of the struck Vasena Iron Works, an English company,where fourworkerswere killed and five times as many were in-jured. A generalstrike in all Argentinafollowed. To this theanti-laborand reactionary groupsin the community repliedbyorganizing erroristic quads,who sackedand closedunionhead-

"IThe act is reproducedn Oddone,op. cit., II, 82-87.IsSantilln, "Laprotesta" loc. cit., p. 59.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

11/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 47quarters, beat workers, and staged a pogrom against the Jews.20Estimates of the week's dead run from seven hundred to onethousand and of those hurt to four thousand. More than 55,000arrests and detensions were made by the police.2' This week isgenerally spoken of as "la semana tragica."In 1921 bitterly fought strikes took place at La Forestal, thelargest quebracho center in the Argentine Chaco. Conditions thereborder on virtual peonage even today.22 A strike of the Pata-gonian sheepherderslasted a year and was stamped out with muchbloodshed.23 The strike of the port workers of Buenos Aires ofthat same year has been compared by some to the strike of "thetragic week" of January, 1919.24Anarchists maintain that they were the spearhead in thesestruggles. Independent sources give the credit to the syndicalist-rather than to the anarchist-controlled F. 0. R. A.26 During thestruggles of 1919 and 1921, there were in both the anarchist-and the syndicalist-controlled F. 0. R. A. those who were parti-sans of Moscow and who became members of the CommunistParty of Argentina when the latter was organized in December,1920. There was no separate communist movement in Argen-tina nor anywhere else, for that matter, until 1921.How much influence anarchism and anarcho-syndicalismactually exerted in Argentina is difficult to estimate. That it wasconsiderable there can be no doubt.26 The instability of its mem-

20 John W. White, Argentina, theLife Story of a Nation (New York, 1942), pp. 143-144.Mr. White errs when he calls this movement "Communist-inspired" and the F.O.R.A.,"a communist organization supported by Moscow." The F.O.R.A. was in existence longbefore the Russian Revolution. The Communist or Third Internationale was organizedin 1919 and its trade union affiliate, the Red International of Labor Unions, in 1921. InArgentina the communists have never been in the majority and have never dominatedthe trade union movement.

21 Santillin, La F. 0. R. A., pp. 275-276.22 For a description of conditions, see Juan A. Solari, Trabajadoresdel norteargentino

(Buenos Aires, 1937), pp. 66-71.23 SantillAn,La F. 0. R. A., p. 277.21 Felix Weil, "Die arbeiterbewegung in Argentinien," Archiv itr die Geschichte esSocialismusund der Arbeiterbewegung,I (1925), 17-19.25 In the Ninth Congress of the F.O.R.A. the declaration adopted at the Fifth Congress

was revised, making the F.O.R.A. neutral in ideology. The diehard anarchists refused torecognize this decision and bolted. As a result, two organizations, each claiming to bethe authentic F.O.R.A., existed from 1915 until March, 1922. The anarchist F.O.R.A.added the term Comunista to distinguish itself from the syndicalist. This was droppedin 1922 when the syndicalist F.O.R.A. disappeared. For the debate to suppress thedeclaration adopted at the Fifth Congress, see Santill4n, La F.O.R.A., pp. 240-254.

26 Policfa de la Capital Federal, op. cit., p. 21.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

12/23

48 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWbership, failure to keep adequate records, and exaggerated claimsof members make any accurate statistical recordof the strength ofanarcho-syndicalism impossible.27 Non-anarchist sources main-tain that there were more than two hundred unions with amembership of upward of 100,000 in existence in 1906. Of thesethe anarcho-syndicalist unions must have been in the majority,since in every congress until 1915-the anarchist viewpoint domi-nated. Anarchist sources insist that they were practically theonly trade-union force in 1910.28In the unity convention which took place in 1915, the anarcho-syndicalists were in the minority, and control of the F. 0. R. A.passed to the syndicalists, whose tactics and philosophy weresimilar to those of the French unions. Anarchists, however,insist that by 1920 they were again the most powerful force in thetrade-unions.29 They assert that at the special convention calledby their F. O. R. A. in 1920 there were present four hundreddelegates representing two hundred affiliated and fifty-eight in-dependent unions.30The Russian Revolution of 1917 introduced new ideologicaldifferences and brought dissension and division to the anarchistsand anarcho-syndicalists, as it did to labor generally. The seizureof power advocated by the Bolsheviks had particular appeal atfirst for many anarchists. Later the majority repudiated-Bol-shevism as in conflict with the anarchist ideals of personal libertyand opposition to statism, the foundation stones of anarchistphilosophy. But, between 1919 and 1922, many anarchists whoaccepted the dictatorship of the proletariat united with otheradvocates of Bolshevism to bring about a reorganization of thetrade-union movement and to orient it in the direction of Moscow.With the slogan of unity, they were able to appeal to many groups;and they succeeded to the extent that a new congress was held in1922, at which anarchist, syndicalist, and independent unionswere present, and from which was born the Uni6n Sindical Argen-

27 On that point the Socialist Party said in 1910: "No ha sido posible obtener datosseguros y completes sobre el desarrollo de esta organizaci6n, ni sobre sus cotizaciones, nisobre su estado actual" (op. cit., p. 140).

28 Oddone reports that the syndicalist-controlled U. G. T. had in 1909 a total member-ship of 22,453; anarchist sources give it a membership of 2,500 in 1908. For differentmembership claims, compare Oddone, op. cit., II, 152-153, with Santillan, La F.O.R.A.,p. 179.

29 According to Weil (op. cit., p. 21), the probable membership figures for the period1919-1922 are: anarchist F.O.R.A., 1919, 35,000; 1920, 40,000; 1921, 20,000; 1922, 25,000.The syndicalist F.O.R.A., 1919, 45,000; 1920, 70,000; 1921, 40,000; 1922, 80,000.

30 Rodriguez Tarditi, op. cit., 877.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

13/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 49tina. Nevertheless, the supporters of Moscow failed to obtainthe highest position of leadership in the new organization and tohave it affiliate with the Red International of Labor Unionscreated by Moscow the previous year.For this, the credit must go to the anarcho-syndicalists whowere opposed to the dictatorship of the proletariat. They notonly prevented the communists from consolidating their power inthe Uni6n Sindical Argentina, but by insisting on keeping theirown trade-union organization, they made unity impossible. Thenet result was the disappearance of the syndicalist-controlledF. 0. R. A. Henceforth outsiders were no longer confused bytwo organizations, each calling itself F. 0. R. A., as had been thecase ever since the Ninth Congress of 1915.The great struggles of 1919 and 1921 had weakened the unionsgenerally and the anarchist-controlled unions especially. In 1927when the anarchists were celebrating the thirtieth anniversary ofLa protesta, their unions, according to their own admission, hadreached a low point. And yet, during six months of 1926 theanarchists were able to send out forty organizers and to conducttwo propaganda campaigns, one in the province of C6rdoba andthe other in La Pampa. The local federation of Buenos Airesconsisted of twenty-one unions in the capital and of seven in thesuburb of Avellaneda. At the congress of the F. 0. R. A. inAugust, 1928, one hundred unions were represented. Anarchistsmaintain that their influence was increasing after 1928 and thatthe membership in their unions was 100,000 in 1929 and 1930.31The coup d'6tat of General Uriburu in 1930 bore with especialrigor upon the anarchist-controlled unions, and the movement waspractically wiped out. In 1932 when sixty anarcho-syndicalistleaders of the bakers and chauffeurs unions were indicted for ter-roristic activities, the F. 0. R. A. claimed twenty-four unions asmembers.32The propaganda activities of the anarchists must have reachedconsiderable proportions. Through their press, publications ofall sorts, schools, libraries, meetings, and lectures, thousands cameunder their influence.33 A local federation of the F. 0. R. A. in

31SantillAn,La F.O.R.A., p. 290.The International Workingmen's Association to which the F.O.R.A. was affiliated creditsit with 60,000 members in 1924, 40,000 in 1926, and 40,000 in 1928. See Lewis L. Lorwin,Laborand Internationalism (New York, 1929), p. 573.

32 Comit6 Pro Presos y Deportados de la F.O.R.A., Los grandes procesos(Buenos Aires,1934), p. 129.

33According to the police of Buenos Aires the anarchists in 1919 held 155 meetings, 48protest meetings (representaciones),and two demonstrations in which 429 speakers parti-cipated. Policfa de la Capital Federal, op. cit., pp. 27-30.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

14/23

50 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWMardelPlata supported wo libraries,held thirtypublicmeetings,distributedeighty thousand handbillsand fifteenthousand pam-phlets, andissued two thousandprotests in 1930when the move-ment was alreadyin decline.34 In the periodbetween 1890 and1904 therewere published n BuenosAires alone two dozen peri-odicals,somefor longerand othersforshorterperiodsof time. Ofthese El perseguido ndlater La protestawere the most important.During hisperiod,eightperiodicals n Italian andthree in Frenchwere also part of the anarchist ntellectual output. In addition,periodicals epresentinganarchist deas werepublished n Lujdn,in Rosario, n La Plata, in Barracas,and in Chivilcoy. The pub-licationsof anarcho-syndicalist nionsweremultiplyingrapidly.35After 1905 the anarchistmovement,except wheninterruptedby persecutionsand the state of siege, publishedLa protestaas amorning,andLa batallaas an afternoonpaper. Other mportantpublications were Bandera roja, La obra, El momento, Tribunaproletaria, and Tribuna obrera. The list of publications of theF. 0. R. A. would take severalpages to cite.36The outputof pam-phlets by Argentineanarchistsand reprintsin Argentina of theworksof Europeananarchistwriters was enormous. Anarchismattracteda numberof outstandingwritersandpoets, amongthemAlberto Ghiraldoand Florencio Sanchez. Ghiraldoedited theliterary weeklies, El sol, Martin Fierro, and Ideas y figuras, inwhich anarchistphilosophyserved as the inspirationof many apoemandessay. Ghiraldowasuponseveraloccasionsalsoeditorof La protesta.37 II

The influence of anarchismand of the anarcho-syndicalistmovementwas not confinedto Argentina. It was the most im-portantforce in labor in all the South Americancountriesuntil1920. Unfortunately, ack of data makes a detailed analysis ofthe anarchistmovement n the other SouthAmericannationsim-possible. The mostthat can be done is to indicatethe broad inesof activity engagedin by the anarchists of these countries.

4Santilldn,La F.O.R.A.,p. 296.35 MaxNettlau,"Contribuci6n la bibliograffa narquistade la AmericaLatinahasta1914," n Certamennternational e La protesta, . 14. Someof the anarcho-syndicalist

papersduring his periodwereEl obrero anadero,La uniongremial,El obrero lbafiil,Elgremiotheorganof the coachmen's nion),El ldtigodelcarrero,El grdfico,La auroradelmarino,El obreroastre,El sombrerero,l companero, l pintor,El carpintero.36Ibid.87Santillin,El movimientonarquistan la Argentina, p. 122-129.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

15/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 51The sameforces hat wereresponsible oranarchism'snfluencein Argentina,werepresent on a smaller scale in Uruguay. Thetwo countries were affected by the same immigrationcurrents.

Moreover, t was not unusual for anarchists who were expelledfromBuenos Airesto move acrossthe river to Montevideo.Alreadyin 1872there existed in Montevideo a section of theInternationalWorkingmen'sAssociation. Evidenceseems to in-dicatethat it was addictedto the ideas of Bakuninratherthan tothose of Marx andEngels. In 1875,the Uruguayan ection of theInternational issued a manifesto appealing to all workers toorganizea trade-unionfederation. The call was signed by thecarpenter,Juan Zavala, as treasurer;by the bricklayer,Martinezy Segovia,as president;and by six other workers. In 1876 theRegionalFederationof Montevideowas organized;and judgingfrom a letter which it sent to the Mexican section of the Inter-national,no doubtexists that it was anarchist n sympathy.38 By1886 anarchist propaganda had begun in earnest in Uruguay.Between 1890and 1904 more than a dozen anarchistpublicationsmadetheir appearance. Someof these did not have a very longlife, and others werepublishedonly occasionally.39Like their confreres n Argentina,the Uruguayananarchistswere active in organizingunions and strikes. The first striketook placein 1880in the mines of Cufiaperuand was directedbyFrench workers. During September, 1901, and October, 1902,strikes occurred n sixteen different rades;and there were elevengeneralstrikes,most of which were failures. In March, 1905,theanarchistsorganized he Federaci6nObreraRegionalUruguaya,the F. 0. R. U., the counterpartof the ArgentineF. 0. R. A.With it were affiliated he most importantunionsin the country,includingthe federationsof constructionworkersand port work-ers. The F. 0. R. U. led the fightfor the eight-hourday, and, inMay, 1905, the strike of the port workers. This strike was fol-lowed by others of buildingtradesworkersand of mechanics. Inall, eleven thousand workerswereinvolved in them. The strikeof the port workerswas accompaniedby muchviolence,in whichmost of the port installationsweredamaged.40

's "Documentos ara a historicdel anarquismo n Am6rica,"n Certamennternationalde La protesta, p. 8389.39Max Nettlau, op. cit., p. 15. Among hese paperswere El derecho la vida,La luz,La verdad,La auroraanarquista,El amigodel pueblo,Tribuna ibertaria,La rebeli6n,Laverdad, rimeroVfuturo. The longest lived was Tribuna ibertaria, he last numberofwhichappeared n May 1, 1909.40 nformation bout the unions n this periodwas obtained from a manuscriptof F.Pintos, shownto the writerwhile in Montevideo.See also F. Pintos,Battley el proceso ist6rico el Uruguay Montevideo,1938), p. 88.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

16/23

52 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWPractically the entire trade-union movement was disorganizedor destroyed by 1910. The anarcho-syndicalists found the goingrather hard during the presidency of Claudio Williman. The

strike of the railroad workers in 1908 destroyed their organizationto such an extent that they have not been able to organize astrong and unified group even to this day. Some of the unions,however, were rebuilt by 1911. Just as in Argentina, importantstrikes took place during and immediately following World War I.In 1918 the anarchists directed the general strike called to aid thestreetcar and meat packing house workers. The failure of themaritime and port workers' strike in 1919 dealt a heavy blow tothe anarchist unions. After this the F. 0. R. U. was no longer inabsolute control of the trade-union movement. The struggle forcontrol became sharper after the communists consolidated theirforces.At its height in 1919, the F. 0. R. U. had a total membershipof about 25,000.41 It reported a membership of four thousand in1924 and in 1928 to the International Workingmen's Association,of which it was a affiliate.42 It had 1,500 members in 1929.43In Chile anarchist activity must have started as early as 1893,since during that year appeared the anarchist periodical, Eloprimido. In the next three years additional anarchist publica-tions were begun both in Santiago and in the other large cities.The most important anarchist periodical, judging by its continu-ous existence from 1913 to 1925, was La batalla.44There is little evidence, however, that the anarchists of Chilewere as successful in organizing unions as they had been inArgentina or even in Brazil. Perhaps the fact that industrialdevelopment was somewhat later in Chile and immigration not somarked may be the explanation. In Chile organizations of mutualbenefit rather than of the revolutionary type continued to play animportant part as late as 1917. Not until 1919 do we find a trade-

41International Labor Office, Studies and Reports, Series A, No. 32, V, 230.42 Lorwin, op. cit., p. 573.International Labor Office, op. cit., V, 230.

44Nettlau, op. cit., p. 26. Other newspapers during the first few years of anarchistactivity included El acrata, La campana, La agitaci6n, La rebeli6n, and Los nuevos hori-zontes-all in Santiago. La revuelta appeared in Valparafso in 1903; in Concepci6n, theorganization Hogar Harmonista "Eliseo Reclus" began publishing the monthly, Luz, inApril, 1904. Among the important publications between 1905 and the first World Warwere La protestaand El productor n Santiago; Luz al obrero n Valparafso; La agitaci6nin Tarapac4; Luz y vidain Antofagasta and Adelantein Punta Arenas. Adelanteidentifieditself on its masthead as the organ for the defense of the workers and for libertarianpropaganda.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

17/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 53union center of national scope that is anarcho-syndicalist intendency. This was the I. W. W., a prototype of the organizationof the same name in the United States.' At its first congress inDecember, 1919, the I. W. W. adopted the same tactics as itscounterpart in the United States-namely, the strike, the boycott,and sabotage. It prided itself on being "a revolutionary organ-ization" whose objective included fighting against "capital, thegovernment, and the church."45 The I. W. W. carried on militantwork until 1925 and was especially active among the maritimeworkers of Iquique, Valparaiso, and Antofagasta. It had organ-ized unions of bakers, bricklayers, shoe workers, and munitionworkers. It never approached in numbers and in influence thecommunist-dominated Labor Federation of Chile, known as F. 0.CH.46 In 1925 a split occurred, and the I. W. W. lost some of itsstrongest unions, which organized the Federaci6n ObreraRegionalChilena. Both the I. W. W. and the F. 0. R. CH. were destroyedwhen General Ibafiez made himself dictator in 1927, and theirleaders were deported to Mas Afuera and Aysen.47The fall of lbfAiez in July, 1931, led to the reorganization of thetrade-union work of the anarchists. They organized the C. G. T.,the Confederaci6n General de Trabajadores, which was structur-ally closer to the Argentine F. 0. R. A. than to the old I. W. W.,since it adopted the "regionalfederation rather than the industryas the basic unit of its organization. The C. G. T. has held fivecongresses since 1933. Some of the unions affiliated with it con-sist of some of the highest paid workers of Chile, among thempainters, carpenters, electricians, and printers.48 Nevertheless,the C. G. T. has played a rather insignificant role in, the trade-union life of Chile. Many of the leaders who had been trained inthe anarchist camp, among them the Socialist Oscar Schnake,former cabinet minister, left to join other movements.Italian immigrants were the chief support of the anarchistmovement in Brazil. Anarchist publications in Italian far out-numbered those in Portuguese. Between 1890 and 1905 thereexisted in Brazil at least fifteen anarchist periodicals in Italian,

41 Mois6s Poblete Troncoso, La organization sindical en Chile y otros estudios socials(Santiago, 1926), pp. 35-36."Its membership, as obtained by Lorwin from the secretary of International Working-men's Association, was 2,000 in 1924. The International Labor Office credits it with aa membership of 9,000 in 1928.

47A. Gaete Berrios, "Historia del movimiento sindical chileno," Revista del trabajo,Afio X, Nos. 6-7 (June-July, 1940), 7-8.48 Ibid.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

18/23

54 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWmost of them in Sao Paulo, where Italian immigrationwas es-peciallyheavy. A terra livrebecamethe most importantanarchistpublication n Portuguese. Anarchistperiodicalswere also pub-lishedin PortoAlegreand in Santos before1914.4Anarchistactivity in the Braziliantrade-unionsgoes back atleast to 1892. In that year therewas held in Rio de Janeirothefirst trade-unioncongress,at which a dozen unions were repre-sented.50In Santos the unionspublishedUniao dosoperariosn1905and Tribunaoperaria n 1907. In Rio de Janeiro, Semanaoperariawas published during part of 1907. An attempt to or-ganize a national federation was begun in 1905. In 1906 theRegionalFederationof Rio de Janeiroconvokeda nationaltrade-union congress,out of which grewthe BrazilianRegional LaborFederation (Federagao Operaria Regional Brasileira). At itssecond congress,held in Rio in 1913,the anarchistswerein com-plete control.5 By 1915, however, the federationhad split intoseparate industrial or trade-unionsbecause of ideological dif-ferences.52Importantstrikes took place during1917 and 1918in all thelargecities-in Porto Alegre,Recife, Para, Parang, Niteroi, Bafa,Rio de Janeiro,and Sao Paulo. This wave of strikes was botheconomicandpoliticaland was consideredby someas part of thepoliticalunrest which culminated n the military revolts of 1922and 1924. The strikes themselveswerein some cases of revolu-tionaryproportions. Of these the most famouswas the strike of1919on the LeopoldinaRailroad.53The LeopoldinaRailroadstrikepracticallybroughtto an endthe era in the Brazilian abor movementin which the anarchistsdominatedthe trade-unions. After 1920 the anarchistshad toendure ncreasedpolice persecution. At the same time they hadto wage a fight against the communists,who were challengingtheir controlof the unions. In 1923 the anarchistsreorganizedthe unions of the Federal District into the Federation of theCapitaland District of Rio de Janeiro;but the communists, n

it Nettlau, op. cit., p. 10. Among the Portuguesepublicationswere 0 despertar,protealo, golpe,A greve,Kultur,and0 libertario, ll of them published n Rio de Janeiro.Emanciparaond 0 amigodo povowere published n Sio Paulo, and A voxdo dever nd0 deapertarn Curitiba.

0FranciscoAlexandre,Teoriae prdticadosindicalismoRio de Janeiro,1941), p. 52.61Ibid.52InternationalLaborOffice,op. cit., p. 176." M. Fortus,"A decade of labourhistory,"Red International f Labouxrnions (Feb-ruary,1929),223-224.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

19/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 55trying to obtain control of this federation, smashed it.A4 Never-theless, as long as free unionism was permitted in Brazil, anarch-ism enjoyed the support of a number of workers.55 In 1928anarcho-syndicalist unions controlled two to three thousand mem-bers out of a. total of 100,000 organized workers.56Anarchists organized the first unions in Peru. They publishedin Lima about 1904 Los parias of which at least fifty-three num-bers were issued.57 La protesta,started in 1911, was still publishedas late as July, 1926. Anarchists led the first strike in Lima in1904, during which a worker was killed. It was in the library ofthe anarchist center in Trujillo that Peru's greatest living revolu-tionary leader, Victor Raiil Haya de la Torre, first became in-terested in the workers' movement.The greatest activity of the anarcho-syndicalists in Peru cameimmediately after the first World War. In 1918 they led thestrikes and the agitation for the eight-hour day. In May, 1919,under the leadership of the anarchists Barba, Gutarra, and Fon-ken, a strike against "hunger" was begun which was felt in allPeru. An increase in the cost of living of more than 100 per centand the failure of wages even remotely to keep pace were thereasons for the strike. On April 13, 1919, the Committee toReduce the Cost of Living, consisting of representatives of theimportant unions in Lima, met and drew up a list of demands.These included (1) lower prices on necessities; (2) lower rates onthe railroads and streetcars; (3) abolition of tithes; (4) the pro-hibition of the export of food as long as the crisis existed; (5) lowerimport duties; (6) fixing maximum prices for milk, meat, coal,cereals, vegetables, and similar products of prime necessity; and(7) the immediate enforcement, pending the adoption of a law,of the eight-hour day.58Agitation for these demands continued through May andJune, 1919. Hundreds of workers were arrested in Lima, in

' Ibid.b5The Constitutionof 1937 imposedby GetulioVargasdestroyedall political partiesand free trade-unions.86Communist ourcesclaim 2,000 and the InternationalFederationof TradeUnions(Amsterdam), ,000. Cf. A. P. D. Silva, "Brasil, as fuerzas, as tendenciesy las per-spectivasdel movimiento indical,"El trabajadoratinoamericanoMontevideo),Afio I,No. 3 (October15, 1928), 21-23, with InternationalFederationof Trade Unions,SixthYearBook Amsterdam, 930), p. 228.b7Nettlau, op. cit., p. 26. OtherpublicationswereSimienta roja, El hambriento,and

Humanidad.58 RicardoMartInezde la Torre, "El morimiento obrero en 1919,"Amauta(Lima)(September, 928),p. 60.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

20/23

56 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEWCallao, and in other industrial centers. This agitation went handin hand with strikes in individual plants and industries, in whichthe workers demanded higher wages and improved conditions ofwork. It was also part of the general political unrest caused bythe approaching change in the presidency.Out of this fervor was born the Regional Federation of Laborin July, 1919. Its principles left no doubt of its anarchist lean-ings. It wanted "to do away with capitalism" and to create "asociety of free producers." It proclaimed its solidarity with allthe workers and it repudiated all political parties, working class aswell as bourgeois, for "these fight for the conquest of politicalpower to satisfy class dominance and personal ambitions." Thefederation was interested in gaining "by means of collectiveaction all possible improvements-within the existing order and toreduce the repressive political and juridic organs of the bourgeoisstate to mere administrative functions." Only then would it bepossible for society to be governed by the economic theory that"all shall work and produce according to their ability and con-sume according to their needs."59The Regional Federation's efforts to become a real nationalorganization were not crowned with much success. There werefew unions outside the immediate vicinity of Lima and fewer localfederations. Nevertheless, the federation's role in Lima was notentirely without significance. Among its greatest accomplish-ments was its resistance in 1923 to President Legula's attempt toviolate the constitutional provision of freedom of worship byconsecrating Peru to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1927 theanarchists made plans to expand the federation, but their planswere frustrated by the communists. Towards the end of thatyear the organization disappeared entirely as a result of govern-mental persecution.60The anarchists even tried to organize the indigenous popula-tion of Peru. In 1923 they started the Regional Indian Workers'Federation, but this organization fell apart when the governmentexiled two of its leaders and persecuted the others.61In Paraguay, the anarchist-controlled Regional Federation ofLabor published as early as 1906 El despertarin Asunci6n. InOctober, 1919, appeared a special edition in honor of the Spanish

59 Ibid., p. 70.60 Ibid. (June, 1929), p. 89.81Jos6 C. Mariftegui, El problema ndigena. Bajo la banderade la C. S. L. A. (Monte-video, 1929), pp. 154-156.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

21/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 57educator, Francisco Ferrer, who was executed by the Spanishgovernment.62In 1918 a trade-union federation existed in Bolivia in whichthe anarchists were active. By 1928 the local federation of LaPaz was a member of the International Workingmen'sAssociation,the anarcho-syndicalist international of Berlin.63 On August 16,1930, the anarcho-syndicalists of Oruro called a national trade-union congress, which the communists, as they themselves admit,tried to disrupt by convoking a rival one.64Anarchists led the important struggles of the workers ofEcuador until 1926.65 On September 1, 1919, occurred the firstimportant strike in Quito, organized by the anarchist-controlledprinters union. This strike, in which six hundred workers par-ticipated, lasted twenty-six days. In Guayaquil the "Centro deEstudios Sociales," organized in 1919, served to prepare theground for the general strike of 1922. Thirty thousand workerswere involved in the strike, and the entire economy of the city wasbrought to a standstill. Bloodshed resulted on November 15,when the police fired upon the strikers. The general strike wasorganized and led by the Regional Federation of the Workersof Guayas.66According to government sources, not a single trade-unionexisted in Colombia before 1910. Letters from correspondents,which appeared occasionally in the anarchist press of Argentinaand Brazil, indicate that anarchist ideas were nevertheless current.Evidently, as long as the conservatives were in power in Colombia,even the least militant unions had little chance to grow. Between1909 and 1930, only 107 unions were recognized as legal; andduring the golden age of anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism inSouth America, between 1909 and 1921, there were only thirty-seven legally established unions.67 Since a militant union wasgenerally illegal, this was the fate of most anarchist-controlledorganizations. Anarchists were to a large extent responsible for

62Other anarchist publications were La rebeli6n(1908) and La tribuna (1909) (Certameninternacional de La protesta, p. 25).

63International Federation of Trade Unions, Sixth Year Book, p. 228.4 Confederaci6n Sindical, Almanaque revolucionario (Montevideo, 1932).65 Luis Maldonado Estrada, Bases del partido socialist ecuatoriano (Quito, 1938), p. 42.66 J. E. C.., "El movimiento obrero en el Ecuador," El trabajador atinoamericano, AfioI, No. 9 (January 15, 1929), 4-5. A more detailed description is to be found in the study

of Primitivo Barreto, "Apuntes hist6ricos del movimiento obrero y campesino en elEcuador," pp. 2-4 (typewritten MS in writer's possession).

67 Departamento de Justicia, Resentadel movimiento sindical 1909-1937 (Bogota, 1938).

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

22/23

58 THE HISPANIC AMERICANHISTORICALREVIEWthe demonstrationn Bogott4 n March15, 1916, in whichnumer-ous workers were presumably killed and five hundred imprisoned.They wereactive also in the strikeof the port workersof Carta-genain February,1920.68The dictatorshipof Juan Vicente G6mez in Venezuelawashardly fertile ground for the growth of any sort of unions, andcertainly not for those controlledby anarchists. However, inview of the activities of anarchists n othercountrieswheredicta-tors ruled, it is not unreasonable o suppose that anarcho-syn-dicalistsplayed a part in organizing he unions that formedtheUni6nObreraVenezolana n 1923.

IIIFrom the beginningof theiractivity in America, he anarchistgroups n the differentcountrieswere in contactwith one anotherintermittently,throughletters and the exchange of periodicals.Some organizations,notably the Argentine F. 0. R. A., wereinterested in establishingmore regular contacts through somesort of continentalanarcho-syndicalist ederation. In fact, theF. 0. R. A. had madepreparations o call a congress n 1910,but

these plans wereupset when the governmentdeclareda state ofsiege. At the secondcongressof the RegionalLaborFederationof Brazil,at which were present fraternaldelegatesfrom Argen-tina andUruguay, a resolutionwas adopted to establish an inter-nationalcommitteewhosejob would be to collect statistics, issuea bulletin, and makepreparationsor a continentalcongress. Itwas not, however,until 1929 that such a congresswas held inBuenos Aires. Thirteen countrieswere there represented,andthe Workingmen'sAssociation of the AmericanContinent wasfounded."9Contacts were also maintained by many groups in SouthAmerica with the European anarchist movement. Both theArgentineF. 0. R. A. and theBrazilianRegionalLaborFederationwererepresentedat the anarchistcongress n Londonin 1913.70Representativesof the F. 0. R. A. participated n the congressatBerlin in December, 1922, when the International Workingmen'sAssociationwasformed.The I. W. W. of Chile and the F. 0. R. U.of Uruguayalso sent delegates,but they arrivedtoo late to take68Confederaci6nindical,Almanaqueevolucionario.69Santilln, La F. 0. R. A., pp. 300-302.70B. Aladino,"Lainternationalde los trabajadores,"n Certamennternational e Laprotest, p. 146.

7/28/2019 2507692.pdf

23/23

ANARCHISM AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM 59partin the debates. UruguayandArgentinawererepresentedatthe meetings of the I. W. A. in 1923;and in March, 1925,whenthe I. W. A. heldits secondcongress n Amsterdam,n additiontothe delegatesfrom the F. 0. R. A. and the F. 0. R. U., therewaspresent a delegate from the Labor Federation of Rio Grandedo Sul.71At present, small anarchist and anarcho-syndicalistcentersstill exist in most SouthAmericancountries. Theirinfluence s,however, practically nil. Whatever hope for a rebirth theremight once have existed among anarchistshas been extinguishedby their defeat in Spain, formerlythe strongholdof anarchismand anarcho-syndicalism. S. FANNY SIMON.New York City.

"IIbid., pp. 153-157.