A History of the Bolivian Labour Movement 1848–1971 (Cambridge Latin American Studies, Series Number 27)

This book is an abridgement and translation of Guillermo Lora's five-volume history. It deals with the strengthening and radicalisation of Bolivia's organised labour movement, which culminated in the drastic revolutionary changes of the 1950s. The first half offers a reinterpretation of Bolivian history in the century preceding the revolution, viewed from the perspective of the working class. The second half discusses in more detail the major political events and doctrinal issues of a period in which the author, as secretary of the Trotskyist Partido Obrero Revolucionario, himself frequently played an active part. Despite the radical upheaval that occurred in the fifties and the mobilisation of broad sectors of the population around such radical objectives as direct property seizures, union-nominated ministers and union, military and worker control, the labour movement was unable to maintain its conquests in the 1960s. The concluding chapters describe the period of renewed military repression and the continuing efforts of the labour movement to resist. Cover......Page 1 Frontmatter......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Editor's introduction......Page 8 1 The new republic......Page 12 2 The economic policies of Belzu and Linares......Page 21 3 Artisans and protection under Belzu......Page 29 4 The rise of the mineowners......Page 41 5 The politics of artisan and mutualist groups after 1870......Page 58 6 `Socialism' in the provinces......Page 64 7 The Revolution of 1898......Page 73 8 The Liberals and labour......Page 81 9 The decline of working-class Liberalism......Page 96 10 The first socialists......Page 109 11 The first strikes......Page 121 12 Students, anarchists and Marxists (1925--32)......Page 149 13 From military defeat to `Military Socialism'......Page 180 14 The post-war labour movement......Page 198 15 The Catavi massacre......Page 225 16 The Miners' Federation......Page 246 17 The workers in the revolutionary struggle (1946--52)......Page 252 18 The COB and the revolution (1952--6)......Page 288 19 Inflation, stabilisation and the COB......Page 313 20 The miners and the fall of the MNR......Page 331 21 Repression......Page 351 22 Barrientos and Ovando......Page 367 23 The People's Assembly......Page 372 Notes......Page 382 Editor's suggested reading......Page 406 Index......Page 408 Guillermo Lora ; Edited And Abridged By Laurence Whitehead ; Translated By Christine Whitehead. Abridged Translation Of Historia Del Movimiento Obrero Boliviano. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 395-396.