This volume collects the proceedings of the First Latin American Communist Conference, organized in Buenos Aires, Argentina in June 1929 by the South American Secretariat of the Moscow-based Communist International (Comintern). The Conference was the first and in some ways only opportunity that communists in Latin America had to engage in a broad discussion of the most important problems and challenges that they faced. The topics that the assembled delegates addressed – including militarism, anti-imperialism, trade union issues, and racial discrimination – were all central to the question of how to organise a strong revolutionary movement.
This major documentary collection of the Latin American Communist movement, newly translated into English and with a substantial introduction, remains surprisingly relevant to our world today.
With an introduction by Victor Jeifets and Lazar Jeifets.
Marc Becker teaches Latin American history at Truman State University. Among other works, he is the co-editor of Transnational Communism across the Americas, University of Illinois Press, 2023, and author of Contemporary Latin American Revolutions, Rowman and Littlefield, 2022; The CIA in Ecuador, Duke University Pres, 2020; and The FBI in Latin America, Duke University Press, 2017.
Abbreviations Biographies of Conference Participants
Introduction: The Outcomes of Ten Years of Latin American Communism Victor Jeifets and Lazar Jeifets
Part 1 Descriptions of the Conference
Introduction to Part 1
1 The First Latin American Communist Conference
2 First Latin American Communist Conference
3 Issues Addressed at the First Latin American Communist Conference
4 Towards the Latin American Communist Conference
5 Bibliography for the First Latin American Communist Conference
6 Parties Represented at the First Latin American Communist Conference
7 The Latin American Revolutionary Movement
Part 2 Background Documents
Introduction to Part 2
1 The First Session of the South American Secretariat of the Communist International
2 Questions of the Latin American Countries
3 Draft Theses on the Revolutionary Movement in Latin America
4 Report from the SP of the EC of the PSRC to the ECCI
5 Letter from the CI to the Revolutionary Socialist Party of Colombia
6 Colombia, 27 May 1929, Morning Session
7 Meeting with the Colombian Delegate
8 Mexico
9 Conversation with the Peruvian Delegates
10 The Importance of the First Latin American Communist Conference
Part 3 Proceedings and Resolutions
Introduction to Part 3
1 Foreword
2 Conference Opening (1 June 1929)
3 The International Situation in Latin America and the Threat of War
Second Session, 2 June 1929
Third Session, 2 June 1929
Fourth Session, 2 June 1929
4 Resolution on the International Situation in Latin America and the Threat of War
5 The Anti-Imperialist Struggle and Tactical Issues Facing Communist Parties in Latin America
Fifth and Sixth Sessions, 3 June 1929
Seventh Session, 4 June 1929
Eighth Session, 4 June 1929
Ninth Session, 4 June 1929
Tenth Session, 5 June 1929
Eleventh Session, 5 June 1929
6 Resolution on the Tactics of the Communist Parties of Latin America
7 Trade Union Issues
Twelfth Session, 6 June 1929
8 Resolution on the Tasks of the Communist Parties in the Latin American Trade Union Movement
9 Agrarian Issues
10 Peasant Issues
Thirteenth Session, 7 June 1929
Fourteenth Session, 7 June 1929
Fifteenth Session, 7 June 1929
11 Resolution on Peasant Issues in Latin America
12 Racial Problems in Latin America
Sixteenth Session, 8 June 1929
Seventeenth Session, 8 June 1929
13 Resolution on Racial Problems in Latin America
14 Racial Problems
15 Work of the Anti-Imperialist League
Eighteenth Session, 10 June 1929
16 Resolution on the Work of the Anti-Imperialist Leagues
17 The Youth Movement and the Tasks of Communist Parties
Nineteenth Session, 10 June 1929
18 Draft Thesis on the Tasks of the Party in the Youth Movement
19 Organisational Matters
20 Resolution on Organisational Matters of the Communist Parties in Latin America
21 Work of the South American Secretariat
Twentieth Session, 12 June 1929
22 Report on the Solution to the Crisis in the Communist Party of Argentina
23 Resolution on the Solution to the Crisis of the Communist Party of Argentina
24 Theses on Women’s Issues
25 Communists and the International Red Aid
Part 4 Conversations After the Conference
Introduction to Part 4
1 Conversation with the Delegates from Mexico
2 Conversation with the Delegations from Guatemala and El Salvador
3 Conversation with the Colombian Delegation
4 Second Conversation with the Colombian Delegation
5 Conversation with the Peruvian Delegates
6 Conversation with the Delegation of Peru
7 South American Secretariat
Bibliography Index
Academic libraries, specialists, post-graduate students, and political activists with an interest in Latin America and revolutions.