This is the third volume of a study covering the history of Latin American organized labor from 1850 to the early 1980s. It is a somewhat uneven book. As its subtitle indicates, the volume is particularly concerned with the ideological evolution of the Latin American labor movement. It pays special attention to the various hemispheric confederations which have existed since the 1930s, and one of its best features is the presentation of key parts of major documents issued by these groups: the CTAL (from World War II to 1958, the Communist-controlled confederation); the CIT and ORIT, to which part or all of the U. S. labor movement belonged; the short-lived ATLAS organized under Peronista patronage in the late 1940s and early 50s; the CLASC and CLAT, since the mid-1950s the Catholic-oriented Latin American confederation; and the CPUSTAL, since the early 1960s the central group in Latin America of national union groups under control of Moscow-oriented Communist parties.
The book also deals with the attitudes and strategies of various international political groups, including the Communists, the Socialist International, and Christian Democrats, toward Latin American organized labor. Associated with this discussion is an analysis of internal arguments and maneuvers within the various Latin American/Inter-American labor organizations, particularly recent developments within ORIT and CLAT. There is also a series of discussions of developments within several national labor movements at various times. Particularly significant are the treatments of the Argentine unions from 1966 to the advent of President Alfonsín to power and the emergence in Brazil after the mid-1970s of a labor movement free from government control for the first time in half a century.
From my perspective, this book has three weaknesses. One is its somewhat confusing organization. The author tends to move back and forth from one aspect to another—dealing with an international organization, the situation in a particular national labor movement, and a general economic and social analysis of the “background” of trade unionism in the area—without making clear the reason for these shifts.
Second, the book has too many small but annoying errors; a few examples will suffice. The author claims that Eusebio Mujal, then head of the National Labor Commission of the Partido Auténtico, the major opposition to President Batista from 1940 to 1944, supported Batista; that the Partido Laborista “pushed the CGT” to support Perón in the 1946 elections (when in fact the Partido Laborista was organized by the major CGT leaders); that the Guatemalan Revolution of 1944 took place “under the direction” of the Partido Revolucionario Guatemalteco, although no such party existed at that time, and that the Partido Acción Revolucionaria was formed sometime after the revolution. Also, in listing the “liberal democratic” regimes in Latin America between 1946 and 1948, the author forgets Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, and Peru, among others.
Finally, although the author is quite explicit and sometimes almost eloquent about government domination of organized labor by conservative and traditional dictatorial regimes, he does not recognize any such control in Castro’s Cuba— although Fidel and some other leaders of his administration have done so on occasion. Indeed, the treatment of labor under the Castro regime is excessively tolerant. In any case, this book should be read by anyone concerned with the recent history of Latin American organized labor.
