The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War have further isolated and weakened the historically beleaguered Left in Latin America. Clearly, leftist guerrilla groups in particular are confronting difficult choices as they face a future without the promise of external support for their causes. This useful reference book will therefore prove to be an important background source as scholars attempt to assess the impact of the realignment of the international order since the early 1990s.
In her thoughtful and forthright introduction, Liza Gross states that the intent of the book is not “to pretend to serve up any spectacular revelations. ... Its purpose ... is to gather and process existing information in one comprehensive source” (pp. 3-4). With some exceptions, this objective is achieved quite well. As is often the case, however, the title of the book does not accurately reflect its scope. Because Gross is concerned almost exclusively with leftist guerrilla movements since the early 1960s, the title should have included the phrase, “Since the Cuban Revolution.” Castro’s revolution is the watershed event that provides the foundation for this book. Gross does briefly discuss Augusto Sandino’s revolutionary campaign in Nicaragua, the 1932 Matanza in El Salvador, and the birth of the Partido Comunista de Chile under the leadership of Luis Emilio Recabarren during the era of World War I. But her stated intent is not to provide historical background except “as it relates directly to the guerrilla group considered” (p. 3).
What this handbook presents are brief narrative summaries of guerrilla groups in nearly every Latin American and major Caribbean nation. Capsule paragraphs for each group, including its founders, principal leaders, dates of operation, and tactical orientation, introduce the reader to a more detailed narrative of the group’s history and ideological position. The book’s parameters leave little room for analysis. This is disappointing, because Gross demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the dynamics of the Latin American Left in her brief introductory overview. Noting that the number of guerrilla fighters in the last 40 years has very likely not totaled more than 50,000, Gross concludes that their political impact has far exceeded their effectiveness.
In her individual narratives, she carefully notes the dreary details of ideological factionalism, poor planning, and betrayal that undermined so many Latin American guerrilla movements. These guerrilla groups were quite frequently at cross-purposes with the traditional, Soviet-line Communist parties that formed before World War II. Only in Cuba did an established Communist Party join forces successfully with a guerrilla front; and in this case, Cuban Communist leader Carlos Rafael Rodríguez allied his party with Castro’s forces only after Fidel’s revolutionary victory appeared likely. Eight years later in Bolivia, Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s death at the hands of U.S.-trained Bolivian “Ranger” units was, in some measure, brought about by the sharp ideological split that quickly arose between Che and Mario Monje, secretary general of the pro-Soviet Partido Comunista Boliviano.
Gross describes Soviet and Cuban support for Latin American guerrilla movements as highly selective and uneven. This appears to be a reflection of the ideological pluralism of these insurgencies, which are described as Marxist-Leninist, Trotskyite, Maoist, Guevarist, and Castroite, “mixed with nationalist ideologies.” Moscow clearly was reluctant to spend its limited funds on leftist movements of uncertain political orientation, especially after the Sino-Soviet split intensified in the early 1960s. As a result, many of Latin America’s guerrilla groups were self-financed, through bank robberies, kidnappings, and even jewel heists. The emergence of large-scale narco-trafficking in the 1970s ultimately proved to be a lucrative source of revolutionary funds for such groups as Colombia’s M-19 and Peru’s Sendero Luminoso.
Although Gross’s descriptions of individual guerrilla groups are short, many are rich in detail. We learn, for example, of Juan Perón’s open contempt for Argentina’s montoneros after he had used them to achieve his return to the presidency in 1973. At a May Day rally, he publicly broke with these leftists, calling them “stupid idiots” and “beardless wonders” (p. 20). In the case of Chile’s Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez, the group’s ability to mount a viable threat to Augusto Pinochet Ugarte’s entrenched dictatorship is documented not only by its near-successful 1986 assassination attempt but also its stockpile of huge quantities of arms and ammunition.
In a reference book such as this, a useful bibliography is critically important. In this respect, Gross seems to have compromised somewhat by stressing English-language sources. The important works of Peruvian revolutionaries Héctor Bejar and Hugo Blanco, for example, are not included. Strangely, neither is the valuable and highly readable analysis of Sendero Luminoso edited by David Scott Palmer. On balance, however, this handbook serves as a valuable reference for those readers not thoroughly familiar with Latin American insurgency groups operating since the early 1960s.
