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In Search of the Party: The Communist Party, the Comintern, and the Peasant Rebellion of 1932 in El Salvador*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Eric Ching
Eric Ching*
Affiliation:
Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina
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Abstract

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The rebellion of 1932 in El Salvador is commonly described in the context of communism and the leadship role of the Communist Party of El Salvador (PCS). Relying on previously unavailable archive materials from Russia and El Salvador, the present article demonstrates that the PCS played a limited role in the rebellion. Factional infighting and a strategy that collided with social realities in western El Salvador combined to inhibit PCS influence among western peasants. The evidence suggests that Indian communities were at the forefront of the rebellion, as an extention of their long history of political mobilization.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , October 1998 , pp. 204 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1998

Footnotes

*

Research and writing were made possible by grants from Fulbright, the Academy for Educational Development, the Albert Beveridge Committee of the American Historical Association, and the History Associates at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I would like to thank Fernando Rocchi, Aldo Lauria, Barry Carr, Héctor Lindo-Fuentes, David Rock, Virginia Tilley, Pat Bean and the anonymous reviewers at The Americas for reading drafts of this paper, and also Carrie Simon for her assistance in Russia. A small portion of the research in this article appeared in Spanish as: “Los archivos de Moscú: una nueva apreciación de la insurrectión del 32,” Tendencias, (El Salvador), 3:44 (septiembre, 1995): 28-31.

References

1 Circular from the Minister of Health to the Alcaldes of Sonsonate Department, February 9, 1932, Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), Ministerio de Gobernación (MG), Sección Sonsonate (SS), Box 3.

2 Descriptions of the revolt can be found in Brignoli, Héctor Pérez, “Indians, Communists and Peasants: The 1932 Rebellion in El Salvador,” in Roseberry, William, et. al., eds., Coffee Society and Power in Latin America (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), pp. 232–61;Google Scholar Anderson, Thomas, Matanza: El Salvador’s Communist Revolt of 1932 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1971);Google Scholar and Méndez, Joaquín, Los sucesos comunistas en El Salvador (San Salvador: Imprenta Funes y Ungo, 1932).Google Scholar

3 Governor of Sonsonate Department to the National Accountant, February 4, 1932, in Notas del Ministerio de Gobernación, February, 1932, AGN, MG, unclassified box.

4 Martínez went by his maternal name.

5 A rare eye-witness account of a the slaughter comes from a North American missionary who was stationed in Juayúa and described the military regaining control of the village virtually without resistance, and then gathering the local peasants in the plaza before taking them to the outskirts of town to be shot. MacNaught, Roy “The Horrors of Communism in Central America,” Central American Bulletin, (Dallas, TX) no. 181, (March, 1932).Google Scholar

6 Dalton, , Roque, , Miguel Marmol (Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 1987),Google Scholar originally published as Miguel Mármol: los sucesos de 1932 en El Salvador (San José: EDUCA, 1972).

7 Anderson, Matanza.

8 Cerdas-Crúz, Rodolfo, The Communist International in Central America, 1920–1936 (Houndsmill: Macmillan Press, 1993), p. 126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

9 Alvarenga, Patricia “Reshaping the Ethics of Power: A History of Violence in Western Rural El Salvador, 1880–1932,” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1994, p. 322.Google Scholar This work was published in similar form as Cultura y ética de la violencia: El Salvador 1880–1932 (San José: EDUCA, 1996).

10 The extent to which this interpretation dominates the current state of knowledge on 1932 is, made evident by works relying upon secondary evidence. In his study of the Comintern in Latin America, Manuel Caballero, for instance, refers to the 1932 rebellion as “the first Communist insurrection in the Western hemisphere.” Interestingly, Caballero de-emphasized the role of the Comintern: “The Comintern had practically nothing to do with it. As far as is known, it seems to have been a spontaneous initiative of the Salvadorean Communists.” Caballero, Manuel, Latin America and the Comintern, 1919–1943 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 52.Google Scholar See also pp. 2 and 9. For other works which emphasize the role of the PCS see Paige, Jeffery, Coffee and Power: Revolution and the Rise of Democracy in Central America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997);Google Scholar Gómez, Jorge Arias, Farabundo Martí: esbozo biográfico (San José: EDUCA, 1972);Google Scholar and Schlesinger, Alfredro, Revolución comunista: Guatemala en peligro? (Guatemala: Unión Tipográfica Castañeda, Avila y Cia., 1946).Google Scholar

11 Pérez, “Indians, Communists;” and Crúz, Rodofo Cerdas, “Farabundo Martí, la internacional comunista y la insurreción salvadoreña de 1932,” Estudios de Centro de Investigación y Adiestramiento Político Administrativo, no. 7, (septiembre 1982).Google Scholar Although based on secondary materials, other scholars have also tried to de-emphasize the focus on the PCS. See, for instance, North, Liisa, Bitter Grounds: Roots of Revolt in El Salvador (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1981).Google Scholar

12 For a description of the opening of archives in El Salvador see Lauria, Aldo, “Historical Research and Sources on El Salvador,” Latin American Research Review 30:2 (1994), 151–76.Google Scholar

13 For a description of the archive and the process of gaining access to it see Ching, Erik, “A Central Americanist in Russia's Comintern Archive,” Latin American Labor News 14 (1996), 7–10.Google Scholar A more extensive but unpublished description is Ching, Erik and Pakkasvirta, Jussi, “Latin America in the Comintern Archive,” on review at the Latin American Research Review.Google Scholar

14 For descriptions of the FRTS and the early history of labor organizing in El Salvador see Larín, Aristides, Historia del movimiento sindical de El Salvador (San Salvador: Editorial Universitaria, 1971)Google Scholar; Menjívar, Rafael, Formación y lucha del proletariado industrial salvadoreño (San Salvador: UCA Editores 1987)Google Scholar; Frassinetti, Antonio Murga, Economia agraria y movimiento obrero en Centroamérica, 1850–1933 (Iztapalapa: Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, 1984)Google Scholar; and Dalton, Miguel Marmol. The information on the number of unions in the FRTS in 1929 comes from a list sent to the Comintern by the FRTS, Archive of the Comintern (AC), Fond 534, Opis 7, Inventory 455, p. 7; hereafter abreviated 534:7:455, 7.

15 Taracena, Arturo, “El primer partido comunista de Guatemala (1922–1923): diez años de una historia olvidada,” Anuario de Estudios Centramericanos 15:1, (1989), 49–63.Google Scholar

16 Good sources on the strategic outlook of the Comintern include, Degras, , Jane, The Communist International, 1919–1943, 3 Vols., (NY: Oxford University Press, 1956–65);Google Scholar Mcder-mott, Kevin and Agnew, Jeremy The Comintern: A History of International Communism from Lenin to Stalin (NY: St. Martín’s Press, 1997),Google Scholar Chapters 1 and 2; Drochkovitch, , Milorad, , ed., The Revolutionary Internationals, 1864–1943 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966), Part III.Google Scholar

17 To the Unión de Zapateros, San Salvador, from the Secrétariat International, Paris, January 11, 1928, AC, 534:6:128, 5.

18 The various letters are found in AC 534:7:455; 534:6:128; and 534:6:128.

19 Initial correspondence went through a intermediary offices in Europe, and in some cases directly through Moscow. After the establishment of the Caribbean Bureau (Buró del Caribe) in 1929, most correspondence went through its offices in New York City.

20 Contained in Report on El Salvador and Guatemala from Anaya to the Buró del Caribe, April 9, 1931, AC, 500:1:5, 18.

21 Sources do not reveal the membership of the Congress, but it probably did not exceed three dozen persons.

22 The documents relating to the Congress are found in AC, 534:7:455. The Congress also is referred to many times in the first extensive document put out by the PCS in May 1930, AC, 495:119:10.

23 Documents from the FRTS relating to the expulsions are found in AC, 534:7:455, 8–14. The expulsions were reported in Diario del Salvador, one of the main daily newspapers in San Salvador, on July 28, 1929, p. 1. Monterrosa’s letter was first published in Diario del Salvador July 30, 1929, p. 1, and again in the same newspaper on August 21, 1929, p. 7.

24 Diario del Salvador, August 14, 1929, p. 1.

25 The leaflet is reprinted in Schott to Secretary of State, Nov. 25,1929, United States National Archives (USNA), Records Group (RG) 59, 816.00/762. The events and the leaflets also are reported in Diario del Salvador, November 25, 1929.

26 The PCS records make extensive reference to the events of November 1929. See AC, 495:119:7, 11; 495:119:10, 120 and 137; 495:119:11, 2–3; 495:119:12, 6–12; 495:119:13, 18.

27 According to a report from a Honduran agent of the Comintern who conducted an investigation in El Salvador, two members of the Executive Council were allied with the Congress. They were Aquilino Martínez, Treasurer, and Edmundo Amaya, Secretrary of the Interior. AC, 495:119:11,2.

28 At its Sixth Congress in l928, the Comintern announced the “discovery of Latin America.” The Comintern considered Latin America to be useful as a front against United States imperialism. Caballero, Latin America, 24, and Chapter 5.

29 The Honduran’s report, in which he discusses his arrival and nationality, is found in AC, 495:119:11.

30 Anaya describes his and Hurwitz’ arrival in AC, 500:1:5, 18–21. See also 534:7:455, 23 for more discussion of Anaya’s arrival. The best evidence we have into Hurwitz identity is an interview with Miguel Angel Vázquez, a Salvadoran who was a member of the Communist Party of Guatemala. He refers to Jacobo Hurwitz as a Peruvian who had founded a cell of APRA in, Mexico as part of Haya de la Torre’s initiative to build ties with the communist party in Mexico. See Taracena Arrióla, Arturo, , “Un salvadoreño en la historia de Guatemala,” Memoria (Mexico City) 4:29 (enero-febrero, 1990), 93.Google Scholar Rodolfo Cerdas refers to a “Jacobo Hurwits” and a “Jacobo Jorowics.” He describes the former as a Mexican who worked for the Comintern and had ties to Central America, but did not work in El Salvador, and the latter as a member of the APRA who arrived to El Salvador in 1930. See Cerdas, , Communist International, pp. 60 and 98.Google Scholar

31 From an interview with Anaya in 1990 by Ibarra, Carlos Figueroa, “El “bolchevique mexicano” de la centroamericana de los veinte,” Memoria 4:31 (septiembre-octubre, 1990), 218.Google Scholar

32 References to Anaya are found in Anderson, , Matanza (1992 edition), pp. 42, 46, 59–61, and 92;Google Scholar and Cerdas, , Communist International, pp. 98 and 103–5.Google Scholar There is also Anaya’s own words in Anaya, Jorge, “La fundación del Partido Comunista de El Salvador,” Memoria 1:10 (mayo-junio, 1985): 232–240.Google Scholar

33 Anaya’s predominant role in the weekly meetings is evident from the notes of these weekly meetings found in AC, 495:119:7 and 495:119:8. For Anaya’s participation in the authorship of major PCS documents at the VI Congress in May 1930, see the informe from the Congress in AC, 495:119:10.

34 F. Anaya to Buró del Caribe, April 9, 1931, AC, 500:1:5, 18.

35 For a description of the meeting and vote see AC, 495:119:7, 11; 495:119:4, 16; 495:119:12, 6; 500:1:5, 18; and 534:7:455, 23. The names of the council members are found in a letter, perhaps from the Communist Party of Honduras, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, to Sección Latino Americana of the Communist International, March 25, 1930, AC, 495:119:11, 3.

36 Anaya to Buró del Caribe, April 9, 1931, AC, 500:1:5, 19.

37 A description of the structure and membership of the party during these earliest days is found in Anaya’s report to the Buró del Caribe, April 9, 1931, AC, 500:1:5, 18.

38 The specific discussion of the lack of an industrial proletariat and the need to organize the rural workers is discussed in the Informe del VI Congreso, May 1930, AC, 495:119:10, 125. A description of the Comintern’s program for the “semi-colonial” nations of Latin America can be found in Cerdas, Communist International, Chapter one.

39 Can, , Barry, , Marxism and Communism in Twentieth-Century Mexico (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992), p. 29.Google Scholar

40 The tesis agraria was written primarily by Anaya for the VI Congress of May 1930. AC, 495:119:10, 89.

41 Aldo Lauria, “An Agrarian Republic: Production, Politics and the Peasantry in El Salvador, 1740–1920,” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, 1990. For a work that makes a similar case for Guatemala, see McCreery, David, Rural Guatemala, 1760–1940 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994).Google Scholar

42 Informe del VI Congreso, May 1930, AC, 495:119:10, 91. Page 119 offers a similar proclamation against small proprietors.

43 Ibid., 15 and 57.

44 From testimony before an investigative committee of the Comintern in late 1932 to determine the events which transpired during the month of January 1932 in El Salvador; AC, 495:119:4, 16. See Section HI below for a description of this investigation.

45 Informe del VI Congreso, May 1930, AC, 495:119:10, 121.

46 Ibid., 147.

47 Testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:19:4, 26.

48 Informe del VI Congreso, May 1930, AC 495:119:10, 27 and 140.

49 Ibid., 126.

50 The process of expulsions and sanctions is found in the actas (nos. 7–11) of meetings of the PCS between November 18,1930 and December 20,1930. AC, 495:119:8,1-9. The process against Flores is found in Informe del VI Congreso, May 1930, AC, 495:119:10, 35.

51 The process against Díaz is found in the actas of the weekly meeting of November 12,1930, AC, 495:119:8, 5. Díaz was later reinstated after the charges against him were dismissed, AC, 495:119:8, 15.

52 Testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:4, 24.

53 The payments of $50 are described in a letter from Buró del Caribe(?) to the Salvadoran section of the SRI, February 8,1931. AC, 539:3:1060, 2. The complaints regarding money, and the descriptions of traveling by foot are found in Hernández, to Secretario del Caribe, November 29, 1931, AC, 539:3:1060, 8–9 and 10–12. Further complaints regarding money are found in testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:1, 14; a letter from the PCS to the Buró del Caribe, October 8, 1931, AC 495:119:7, 16; and Anaya’s letter to Buró del Caribe, April 9, 1931, AC 500:1:5, 24. References to other countries receiving more money are found in testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:4, 3–4.

54 Lists of jailed comrades are provided in two letters from Hernández, PCS, to the Secretario del Caribe, November 29, 1931 and December 8, 1931, AC, 539:3:1060, 8-12; and in the informe from Anaya, August 12, 1930, AC 495:119:12, 6–7.

55 The problem of illiteracy is discussed in testimony before the Comintern investigative committee, AC 495:119:4, 64. Descriptions of organizers’ hardships are found in Hernández’s letters, Ibid.

56 Ching, Erik and Tilley, Virginia, “Indians, the Military and the Rebellion of 1932 in El Salvador,” Journal of Latin American Studies 30:1, (February, 1998), 121–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

57 Testimony from Comintern investigation, AC 495:119:4, 24.

58 Informe de la sección de El Salvador, renido por el camarada Hernández de la junta del secreatariado del caribe del SRI, July 12, 1932, AC, 495:119:12, 25.

59 Informe del VI Congreso, May 1930, AC 495:119:10, 140.

60 Between 1929 and 1932, the value of Salvadoran coffee dropped from US$16.7 per quintal to US$7.5 per quintal. See Brannon, Max, Breves consideraciones sobre la industria cafetalera en Mexico y en El Salvador (San Salvador: Imprenta Nacional, 1934), p. 18.Google Scholar (A quintal is 46 kilograms.) Exports dropped accordingly from 120.4 million pounds in 1931 to 87.5 million pounds in 1932. See Thomas, Victor Bulmer, The Political Economy of Central America Since 1920 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 50.Google Scholar The drop in wages on the coffee plantations was noted by British foreign service officers in El Salvador, see Rodgers, San Salvador, to Sir John Simon, Foreign Office, January 7, 1932, Public Record Office (PRO), Foreign Office (FO) 371/15812, A612/918.

61 Descriptions of the strikes are found in testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495: 119:4,40–1 and 46. For the arrival of communists to the plantations on payday, see Administrador General for Concha G. v. de Regalado to Governor of Sonsonate, January 6, 1932, AGN, MG, SS, Box 2. Some of the strikes were described in the national press. For instance, a strike on the Sol plantation near Talnique, Department La Libertad, was described in Diario Latino, December 31, 1931, in the collection of press clippings in AGN, SI, Capitulo 1, Caja 17.

62 This figure is mentioned twice in testimony before the Comintern investigation, AC, 495: 119:4, 5 and 55.

63 The reforms of the Romero presidency can be found in, Ching, Erik, “From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940,” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1997, Chapter 7.Google Scholar

64 Informe del VI Congreso, May 1930, AC, 495:119:10, 117.

65 Testimony from Comintern investigation, AC 495:119:4, 47.

66 The platform is discussed by a member of the CC in his testimony before the Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:4, 24–6. Comintern analysts criticize the strategy at length, AC, 495: 119:1, 11–16.

67 Diario Latino, January 5,1932, p. 1, in collection of press clippings in AGN, SI, Capitulo 1, Caja 17. The election in San Salvador also was discussed by a member of the CC in testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:4, 44.

68 The issue of the new Martínez government allowing the PCS to participate in the election is discussed in Diario Latino, December 12, 1931; Patria, December 21, 1931; and Diario Latino, December 22, 1931. All of these are found in the collection of press clippings in AGN, SI, Capitulo 1, Caja 17.

69 The most visible influence of the party to the elections was the nomenclature of some political parties. A pair of examples are the “Partido Sindicalista de Trabajadores” in Juayúa and the “Sindicato de Trabajadores del Campo” in Izalco. See Emelio Redaelli, Alcalde of Juayúa, to Governor of Sonsonate Department, December 18,1931, AGN, MG, SS, Box 3; and telegram from Valdez, Alcalde of Izalco, to Governor of Sonsonate Department, December 15, 1931, AGN, MG, SS, Box 1.

70 Report to Buró del Caribe from PCS, October 8, 1931, AC, 495:119:7, 16.

71 Testimony from the Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:1, 5.

72 This quote comes from a report made by PCS to Buró del Caribe (no date, but context suggests sometime late in 1930), AC, 495:119:11, 16.

73 Informe from Anaya, October 12, 1930, AC, 495:119:12, 16.

74 Anaya’s criticism of Martí are located in a report from Anaya to Alberto Moreau, Sect. General of the Colonial Department of the PCUSA, AC 495:119:12, 8; and in his interview in Figueroa, “El bolchevique.” The party’s criticism of Martí for meeting with Araujo is found in testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:4, 37.

75 Jorge Arias provides a good narrative of Martí’s life, including the events in 1931, in Farabundo Martí. There is a letter from Martí to the Communist Party of Costa Rica from onboard the ship that was carrying him into exile in Costa Rica in AC, 495:114:2, 3. His exiles to and returns from Guatemala in August 1931 are described in testimony from Comintern investigation, AC 495:119:4, 37.

76 Martí’s arrest in April and his May hunger strike are described in the informe of July 12, 1932, AC 495:119:12, 26 and 27.

77 Informe rendido por los camaradas de El Salvador, September, 1936, AC 534:7:455, 23–28.

78 Testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:1, 19.

79 Rodgers to Sir John Simon, Foreign Office, January 7, 1932, PRO, FO 371/15812, A612/918.

80 Finley to Secretary of State, October 3, 1931, USNA, RG 59, 816.00B/42, Box 5507, Folder no. 1.

81 Governor of Sonsonate to Minister of War, November 23, 1931, AGN, MG, SS, Box 4.

82 Report from PCS to Buró del Caribe, October 8, 1931, AC, 495:119:7, 16.

83 Testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:1, 4.

84 Ibid., 32.

85 Ibid., 5.

86 Ibid., 1; and 495:119:4, 2.

87 Testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:4, 59.

88 Ibid., 67.

89 The sending of these instructions is mentioned by Marochi in his testimony before Comintern investigation, AC, 495:119:4, 47-9. They also are referred to in another testimony in AC, 495:119:1, 13.

90 Dalton, , Miguel Marmol, 342.Google Scholar

91 The Red Commanders are discussed in testimony from Comintern investigation, AC, 495: 119:1, 21.

92 Ibid., 495:119:4, 52 and 65; and 495:119:1, 22.

93 Ibid., 495:119:1, 20.

94 Ibid., 19 and 21.

95 Ibid., 20.

96 Ibid., 22.

97 For an alternative view of Nahuizalco case based partly on some of the same sourcs, see Alvarenga, , “Reshaping,” and Cultura y ética.Google Scholar

98 Ching and Tilley, “Indians, the Military.”

99 Population figures from 1930 are found in the 1930 census, Población de la República de El Salvador (San Salvador: Imprenta Nacional, 1930). Nahuizalco’s population grew from 5,000 in 1858, to 9,000 in 1900, and to 14,000 in 1913. See López, , Lorenzo, , Estadística general de la República de El Salvador (San Salvador: Ministerio de Educación, 1974 [1858]), 160–2.Google Scholar For population figures from 1900 see Informe, Governor of Sonsonate Department, January 12,1903, AGN, MG, unclassified box. For the privatization of the communal land and the predominance of small holding see Lauria, , “Agrarian Republic,” 234–61, and 391–403.Google Scholar For the lists of fincas and their ladino owners see Directorio comercial, pp. 494–6. The 1913 survey is from Cerridos, Son-sonate City, to Minister of Government, September 20, 1913, AGN, MG, SS, Box 5. A 1934 survey shows substantial smallholding in corn and bean production and lists the agriculturists by name, most of whom bear typically Indian surnames. See the survey dated July 13,1934 in AGN, MG, SS, Box 3.

100 The description is taken from Lauria, , “Agrarian Republic,” 514–9,Google Scholar whose evidence derives from the records of the official investigation of the rebellion. The rebellion is also described in the 1913 survey from Cerridos, Sonsonate City, to Minister of Government, September 20, 1913, AGN, MG, SS, Box 5.

101 Cardenal, , poder eclesiástico, 127.Google Scholar

102 The issue of rebels in militia uniforms is drawn from Lauria, , “Agrarian Republic,” 514–9,Google Scholar and also from discussions with Lauria who described the contents of the evidence in greater detail. I would like to thank Aldo for sharing his information.

103 Appendix 3.2 in Ching, “From Clientelism.”

104 Junta de Elección, Nahuizalco, 1887, AGN, MG, SS, Box Política 1890–1899, 1900–1908”; Nulo, 1894, AGN, CN, Box 1.

105 The landholdings of the Brito and Valdéz families are found in Lista de Agricultores Principales, Nahuizalco, March 8, 1912, AGN, MG, SS, Box 3; and Directorio comercial, 494–6.

106 Juan Aviles, Nahuizalco, to Minister of Government, December 23,1896, AGN, MG, 1896, Box 5.

107 Junta de Elección, Nahuizalco, December 14, 1903, AGN, MG, SS, Box “Política, 1890–1899, 1900–1908.”

108 Minister of Government to Governor of Sonsonate Department, April 26, 1926, AGN, MG, 1926, Box 2.

109 Juan Aviles to Minister of Government, December 23, 1896, AGN, MG, 1896, Box 5; see also Nullification, Nahuizalco, December 14, 1923, AGN, CN, Box 5; and the Lista de electos, Sonsonate Department, from Departmental Governor of Sonsonate to Minister of Government, December 13, 1923, AGN, MG, 1923, Box 4.

110 The reference to Rodríguez is found in a note from the Governor of Sonsonate Department to the Minister of Government, September 9,1926, AGN, MG, 1926, Box 6. The letter in question is from the three ladinos (Leónidas Durán, Manuel González and Alfredo Alvarado) and is transcribed in a note from the Minister of Government to Governor of Sonsonate Department, April 26, 1926, AGN, MG, 1926, Box 2. The letter stated that Antonio Contreras had been made Alcalde and Rodolfo Brito had been appointed as judge and reads, “as Judge he engages in every class of abuse and venality; he is a heavy burden upon the poor and Indian peoples.” The letter also claimed that Contreras and Brito insured that only their friends and family members were appointed to the police force.

111 Nulo, December, 1927 Nahuizalco, AGN, CN, Box 5. Also cited by Alvarenga, , “Reshaping Ethics,” 338.Google Scholar

112 For example, between December, 1929 and January, 1932, five nullification requests originated from Nahuizalco. The respective dates are, December, 1929; August, 1930, September, 1930; December, 1930; and January, 1932. See AGN, CN, Boxes 7 and 9.

113 Request for nullification of Pedro Mendoza as Regidor, September 9, 1930, Nahuizalco, AGN, CN, Box 7.

114 Nullification request for December, 1929 municipal elections, Nahuizalco, AGN, CN, Box 7.

115 Nullification request for January, 1932 municipal elections, Nahuizalco, AGN, CN, Box 9.

116 Nullification request for December 1929 municipal election, Izalco, AGN, CN, Box 7.

117 White, Richard, Indians, Empires and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991 [1995]), p. 271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

118 Carr, Marxism, Chapter 3.

119 Carr, Barry, “Mill Occupation and Soviets: The Mobilization of Sugar Workers in Cuba, 1917–1933,” Journal of Latin American Studies 28 (Spring 1996), 129–58;CrossRefGoogle Scholar “Identity, Class and Nation: Black Immigrant Workers, Cuban Communism and the Sugar Industry, 1925–1934,” Hispanic American Historical Review 78:1 (1998); and “From Caribbean Backwater to Revolutionary Opportunity: Cuba’s Evolving Relationship with the Comintern, 1925–1934,” in Rees, Tim, ed., International Communism and the Communist International (Manchester: MVP, 1998), forthcoming.Google Scholar

120 Bourgois, Philippe, Ethnicity at Work: Divided Labor on a Central American Banana Plantation (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989);Google Scholar and Chomsky, Aviva, West Indian Workers and the United Fruit Company in Costa Rica, 1870–1940 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996), Chapter 9.Google Scholar