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Anarchism in El Salvador

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

    History

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    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 ofFrancisco Dueñaswas overthrown by the liberalSantiago González,who completed the country's transformation into what has been described as a "coffee republic".[1]Liberal rule was eventually consolidated by themilitary,with a liberal military junta holding power continuously and each president officially designating their successor.

    Early anarcho-syndicalism in El Salvador

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    By this time, anarchism had already been spread to El Salvador by the French individualist anarchistAnselme Bellegarrigue,who had fled there from the repression of theSecond 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 publishedLa perspectiva teórica del anarquismo,becoming the first known Salvadoran anarchist, himself inspired by the works ofPeter KropotkinandLeo Tolstoy.[2]At the turn of the 20th century, an organizedlabour movementhad arisen in El Salvador, forming an opposition to the country's ruling oligarchy,[3]andanarcho-syndicalismbegan to develop among Salvadoran workers.[4]Anarchist publications subsequently spread throughout the country, with theRitosbeing first published in 1908 and theRenovaciónbeing first published in 1911.[5]

    Eventually, the tensions between the workers and oligarchs boiled over in 1913, when presidentManuel Enrique Araujowas assassinated by coffee farmers.[6]This assassination led to a period ofone-party ruleby theNational 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 firsttrade unionsand became key participants in theresistance movementagainst the oligarchy.[8]The first Salvadoran Workers' Congress was held inArmenia, 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 predominantlyMarxistin 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 theGreat Depressionbrought 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 firstfree and fair electionswere held,[13]in which theLabor PartycandidateArturo Araujowas elected asPresident 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 declaredmartial lawto suppress the strikes, but the military soon turned on him too. Supported by the country's oligarchy, Araujo was overthrown in acoup d'étatled by theCivic Directory,which established amilitary dictatorship.[16][17]

    Under the military dictatorship

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    Under the rule ofMaximiliano Hernández Martínezand the far-rightNational Pro Patria Partybegan to repress the labour movement. When theCommunist Partywon several seats during the1932 legislative election,the government cancelled the results of the election.[18][19]This culminated in the1932 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 indigenousPipil 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 theUnited Statesfor itsanti-communiststance.[18]In the 1970s, the left-wing was revitalized by the student movement, which saw the Revolutionary Left Movement bringing togetherTrotskyists,anarchists and Marxists which supported armed struggle against the regime.[26]The military dictatorship was finally overthrown in the1979 Salvadoran coup d'état,which brought the moderateRevolutionary Government Juntato power, overseeing thetransition to democracy.But this also ignited theSalvadoran Civil War,in which theFarabundo Martí National Liberation Frontbrought together a broad coalition ofrevolutionary socialists,syndicalistsand anarchists to fight against the US-backed government. Tens of thousands of people died during the war and an unknown number wereforcibly disappeared.[27][28][29]With the ratification of theChapultepec Peace Accordsin 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

    [edit]

    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 ofSan Salvadorbrought 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 theveganarchistCélula 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 magazineAurora,forming the Salvadoran chapter of the Anarchist Federation of Central America and the Caribbean (FACC).[31]

    References

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    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.Retrieved17 September2020.
    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.ISBN9788486956288.OCLC600810176.
    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.ISBN9788436514452.OCLC7197984.
    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 fromthe originalon 17 June 2008.Retrieved17 September2020.
    7. ^Paige, Jeffery M. (1993)."Coffee and Power in El Salvador".Latin American Research Review.28(3). The Latin American Studies Association: 7–40.doi:10.1017/S0023879100016940.JSTOR2503609.S2CID252914247.
    8. ^Taracena Arriola, Arturo (1984). "La confederación obrera de Centro América 1921-1928". Anuario de Estudios Centroamericanos (in Spanish). Vol. 10. p. 83.ISSN0377-7316.OCLC5547311486.
    9. ^Menjivar, Rafael (1982).Formación y lucha del proletariado industrial salvadoreño(in Spanish).San Salvador:Central American University.p. 39.OCLC491060228.
    10. ^Arias Gómez, Jorge (1996).Farabundo Martí(in Spanish) (1 ed.).San José, Costa Rica:EDUCA. p. 51.OCLC988746727.
    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.ISBN9789682312298.OCLC159854916.
    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. ^abFederal 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.Retrieved17 September2020.
    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.JSTOR156558.S2CID146607906.
    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.JSTOR156558.S2CID146607906.
    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.Retrieved17 September2020.
    18. ^abBeverley, John (1982). "El Salvador".Social Text(5). Duke University Press: 55–72.doi:10.2307/466334.JSTOR466334.
    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.ISBN9788484051848.OCLC493045652.
    21. ^Anderson, Thomas P. (1971).Matanza: El Salvador's Communist Revolt of 1932.Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 88–91.ISBN9780803207943.
    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.Retrieved17 September2020.
    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.ISBN9788484051848.OCLC493045652.
    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.ISBN9789992327432.OCLC711902901.
    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.Retrieved2 March2016.
    29. ^"El Salvador's Funes apologizes for civil war abuses".Reuters.16 January 2010.Retrieved2 March2016.
    30. ^Ortiz Díaz, Wilfredo Salvador (2 August 2009)."Breve bosquejo histórico del anarquismo en El Salvador".Anarkismo.net.Retrieved18 February2021.
    31. ^Elisa (18 January 2020)."El Salvador: An Anarcha-Feminist Perspective".The Final Straw Radio.Retrieved18 February2021.

    Bibliography

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