Del Moncada a Chiapas: Historia de la lucha armada en América Latina, by Daniel Pereyra, published by Los Libros de la Catarata, Madrid, 1995, 254 pages.
The title and chapter structure are intended to focus attention on one specific experience, that launched by the EZLN just over two years ago. But this Argentinian author's work is in fact much more ambitious. It has great documental value, though it is no mere collection of texts. Pereyra has condensed into some 250 pages the entire history of guerrilla movements in Latin America, over the last few centuries, and including the present day. No more, no less. And no country and no guerrilla movement escapes his meticulous work
Scientific rigor combines with the viewpoint of a left veteran, a front-line participant in the evolution of the armed movements of Latin America. This book is hard to put down. Pereyra puts the guerrilla phenomenon which continues to characterise this content into context, and interprets it, from an "engaged" standpoint.
The book is dedicated to "los desaparecidos". But it is not simply a proud record, or a list of dates of the various armed groups. Del Moncada a Chiapas leads us, documents in hand, through the economic, political and social reality of Latin America. It examines the role of the US in the continent. It discusses the various coups d'etat. Pereyra also explores the differences between armed and politio-military movements. He analyses their social origin and their method of struggle. He also considers the contradictions and limitations.of the counterinsurgency operations and peace processes
Pereyra's work is without a doubt the most complete publication on this subject to date. It demonstrates the common thread linking the first indigenous struggles against colonisation with the struggle which the EZLN and other guerrilla forces continue today. This book demonstrates the possibility that armed struggle will continue to emerge, as long as the New World Order continues to condemn most people in the countries of Latin America to repression and misery.
Reviewed by Roberto Montoya
Reprinted from El Viejo Topo #1/1996