LATIN AMERICAN TRIP OF(Classified) 27 FEBRUARY- -16 APRIL 1960

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP68-00069A000100090003-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 42
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 24, 2000
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• Content Type: MF

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MEMORANDUM lita Assistant Director, Central Reference 25X1A9a
: Latin American Trip of
27 Febz,ary--16 April 1960
SUBJECT
25X1A9a
1. PURPOSE OF TRIP
a. To survey the operations of the Pdblications Procurement Program
in Mexico, Guatemala* Panama, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil,
and Venezuela.
b. To survey the availability of publications in Latin America which
thould be acquired. by the Publications Program for CIA and other agencies
of the Government which the program services, and to purchase such books
as were available and appropriate. To 'familiarize the Latin American
Area Coordinator* Acquisitions Branch, OCR Library with the general avail-
ability of publications in Latin America, with the sources of such material,
and, with bookstores and publishers throughout the area.
a. To acquire publications for the CIA Historical Intelligence Collection.
d. To survey the availability of Chinese Communist publications through-
out Latin America and make arrangements for the acquisition of l960 Chinese
Communist publications on a continuing basis wherever possible. This require-
ment was necessitatet by the action of the Peoples' Republic of China which,
as of 1 January 1960, has stopped the export of all but a few propaganda
publications due, it is believed, to a serious shortage of paper in Communist
China. The usual sources of these publications having dried up, it was felt
that the increase of Chicom activities in Latin America, and the community of
interest which they are trying to develop there might lead the Chicoms to
allow the export of their 1960 publications to Latin America even though they
are not generally available in other areas of the world.
2 THE PUBLICATIONS PROCUREMENT PROGRAM
The Publications Procurement Program is considered to be a responsibility
of the Department of State under provisions of Section 311 of the Foreign
Service Act of 1946, which provides that "The officers and. employees of the
Service shall, under such regulations as the President mAy prescribe, perform
duties and functions in behalf of any Government agency. . .requiring their
services, . . ." Pursuant to the authority of Section 311 of the Foreign
Service Act of 1946, President Truman* on 4 June 1951, issued Executive Order
10249, Prescribing Regulations With Respect To Foreign Reporting Functions.
Section 2 of this Order provides that the Department of State "shall Obtain
for any Federal department or agency, through the Foreign Service of the
United States, suet foreign data as such department or agency may request
through the Department of State." "Foreign data" is defined as amy data
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obtained in foreign countries "including reports, statistics, and publications."
Vole In accordance with these provisions, the Foreign Publications Procurement
25X1C4a Program Wee conducted by the Foreign Publications Branch of the Acquisition
and Distribution Division in the office of the Speeiel Assistant to the
Secretary of State for Intelligence.
The overall guidance and direction of the Publications Procurement
Program has been controlled by the Intelligence Collection and Dissemination
Division (/CD) under the Director of Intelligence and Research in, the
Department of State. (A reorganization as of I May 1960 may change this
25X1C4a designation.)
25X1C4a
The Publications Procure-
ment Program covers the publications needs of more than 20 agencies of the
Government. However, the requirements of MAI and CIA expenditures for
publications material, account for more than 90 percent of the overall program.
Publications are procured in the mad by members of the Foreign Service who
are designated as Publications Officers, and there is a Publications Officer,
who is a, member of the Foreign Service, at each Embassy and at many Consulates.
There are nine full-time or Regional Publications Officers throughout the
world, none of whom are located in Latin America. All other Publications
Officers are designated as part-time or ad. hoc Publications Officers and.
pee= the publications function in addition to their other Embassy duties.
The Publications Procurement Program in Latin America, by and large, has
been so weak and so poorly handled in the field that one of the major purposes
of this trip was to talk with the Publications Officers, acquaint them with
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the importance of the program, try to assess the causes of its weakness,
and make recommendations for its improvement. In addition, the failure
of the Latin American Pdblications Officers adequately to select and report
on the availability of publications In this area made it almost impossible
for the Latin American Area Coordinator of ICD/FP to service his customers
or to know what publications were available in the area, where they could
best be obtained., and what the potential of the area could, be in this field.
In addition, the weakness of the Publications Program in Latin America made
it mandatory that the Latin American Area Coordinator purchase a considerable
number of publications on this trip to fill research gaps for the intelligence
analysts and operating divisions which would not have existed to such a con-
siderable degree had the program been operating properly. The Curator of
the Historical Intelligence Collection also was faced with the same problems
and acquired over 200 books for RIC on this trip.
Under the provisions of paragraph 943.12 of volume four of the Foreign
Service Manual, the Department of State's responsibility for making required
information available to other federal agencies includes the securing of
foreign publications. These publications are secured through the Publications
Officers at the various Edbassies and Consulates. In handling this responsibility
in the field, the Publications Officers have three basic functions: processing
specific orders; selection of publications on their awn initiative against
specific requirements set forth in the annual Selection Guide and other
pertinent directives; and reporting the availability of publications in general.
As a general rule, the handling of the specific orders is performed best, and
the reporting function is handled least effectively.
By and. large, the specific orders from ICD/FP are processed with reasonable
effectiveness throughout Latin America. As a general rule, these specific
orders are handled in the Embassies by someone other than the Publications
Officer; i.e. usually by the post's General Services Officer, but also
occasionally by the Edbassy Librarian, local assistants, or other administrative
personnel. Nevertheless, specific orders are a part of the function of the
Publications Officer and. should be carried out under his nominal supervision.
There is no reason to change the basic procedure whereby administrative
personnel in the Embassies process these specific orders from Headquarters,
but a copy of the order should pass across the desk of the Publications Officer.
It is our impression that in most of the Embassies we visited, this does not
occur. The Publications Officer should see the specific orders so that be is
apprised, of what is going on, as well as for his own training and guidance as
to the needs and requirements of Headquarters. By being so advised, he will
then be able to select and report on similar material, and avoid duplicate
purchasing of material he may see which has already been ordered from Head-
quarters through administrative channels. If a Regional. Publications Officer
is appointed in Latin Americas, or in those places where direct dealing with
Publications Officers in Consulates is authorised, copies of the specific
orders (as well as ultimate action on them) should, be sent to the Regional
Publications Officer or to the &bailey Publications Officer who is nominally
responsible for the publications activity in the Consulate within his country.
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Furthermore, Publications Officers should be instructed to stress reporting
on the non-availability of specific orders or the non-availability of the
desired amber of copies. There are still too many instances in which
requests for multiple copies have not been fulfilled with no reason reported,
leaving Headquarters in the position of not knowing whether such publications
will ultimately be forthcoming or are no longer available. This point has
been stressed In our briefings of the Latin American Publications Officers.
Paragraph 943.21 of Volume 4 of the Foreign Service Manual provides that
the Foreign Service posts "shall keep abreast of the issuance of new publications
within their areas of jurisdiction. They shall select and transmit publications
meeting the general ami specific requirements of the Impartment." Under State
Department procedures, this responsibility is assigned to the Publications
Officer, who is charged with the constant review of any books, periodicals,
newspapers and, pamphlets, through "the examination of bibliographies,
publisher's notices, catalogs, and reviews as well as by personal visits to
bookstores, newsstands, government agencies, and other sources of published
materials." Having done this, the Publications Officer is charged with the
continuing selection of appropriate publications for Headquarters, the sub-
mission to Headquarters of sample copies of appropriate new periodicals and
newspapers, and the maintenance of friendly personal relations with publishers,
dealers, and officers of government and. private organizations in the publications
field.
The selection aspect of the Publications Program in Latin America has
ranged in the posts we visited from virtually zero to fair. At no post
can it be truly said that the work was being performed in a really satisfactory
manner. Those Publications Officers who have been doing stair quantitative
job of selecting material have tended to err too much on the side of selecting
purely cultural material which has small value to the intelligence community
and most of the other consumers; nor do the Publications Officers exercise
sufficient judgment in selecting materials in the fields of politics, economics,
and international relations and similar related subjects.
Latin America differs markedly from an area such as Europe in that there
is a dearth of formalized bibliographical material. Some countries in Latin
America do publish formal national bibliographies, but most are running several
years behind the current material; other countries in the area start a
bibliographical publication, then the publication date becomes irregular, and
most such issuances finally die completely. A few booksellers or publishers'
groups put out some sort of bibliographies/ tools, but the publications are
spotty and never terribly complete. Among the reasons for the absence of
current bibliographical material is the high cost of paper in several Latin
American countries (of which Chile is a prime example), and the apparent
absence of sufficient market to justify the cost of publication and distribution.
The Publications Officers with wham we spoke are all unaware of the status of
any bibliographical tools at their posts, and. very few of them had made any
arrangements to obtain publishers lists or catalogs. It is a generally
recognizedqpirk of the Latin American book trade that they do not seem to
press hard for business, and, while they may mail you a catalog or two, this
service slowly peters out. Therefore, in Latin America the Publications Officer
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has no real substitute for pereonal visits to bookstores and the maintenance
of personal contact with various publishers or publishers' groups in order
to keep abreast of currently available or forthcoming publications for
selection and reporting purposes. We found that many of the Publications
Officers do not visit any bookstores in furtherance of the program, nor do
they even stop to examine the newsstands and kiosks which abound in the Major
cities of the area. On our trip, we acquired, quite a few useful periodicals,
newly published or new to ICOPP, which axe openly sold on the newsstands.
These would, have been important to select for Headquarters, but the Publications
Officers simply overlooked them. For example, ve can cite a new Revista
Marxists., first publithed in 1960 in Montevideo, 0 Movimento Sindical
first pUblished in Rio de Janeiro in 1960, and about ten new and useful
magazines readily available in Buenos Aires alone.
A majority of the Publications Officers we visited had. not been briefed
on the Publications function before assuming that duty, and it is hoped that
our briefings of these Officers at their posts will prove to be beneficial.
We also briefed. the Ambassador or Minister Counselor at all posts except
Guatemala on the importance of the program, and urged their help without being
critical. Several agreed that a visit such as ours was quite helpful and should
be repeated annually.
On the brighter side, a new Publications Officer has been appointed in
Mexico City who appears to be able and vigorous said who has already started
to send in selectionnoterial. The PUblications Officer in Panama appears to
be very able and to offer considerable promise, but his appointment preceded
our arrival by so short a period that he vas awaiting our briefing before
beginning activity. Unfortunately, Panama is a poor source of book material,
and his abilities viii be limited by the comparative un-availability of
material. The newly appointed Publications Officers in Montevideo, Sao Paulo,
and Caracas also give promise of good performance in three extremely important
posts. However, we have stressed in our briefings that there is no substitute
for the Publications Officers personally paying periodic visits to the book-
stores and, kiosks in order to keep abreast of appropriate material for selection.
Regrettably,* in some of the posts, the attitude of the Publications Officers
has been, and is, that it is rather doubtfUl vhether they will have much time
to visit bookstores in the light of their other duties, and wherever this is
the case, the Publications Program will suffer immeasurably.
It is felt that while the Publications Officers in Latin America must bear
the major share of the blame for the inadequate selection of publications
material, part of the failure lies in the weakness in CA-1005, the annual
Selection Guide furnished them by ICD/FP. This Guide is too comprehensive, as
it is aimed, at worldwide procurement rather than on the type of material which
Is available in a given region or country. Because the present Guides are so
broad and so general, they should be revamped, simplified, and aimed at
requirements for specific regions rather than at the world as a, whole before
the next one is issued. Actually we found that fey of the Publications
Officers in Latin America had. read the Guide in its entirety, and those who
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had tackled it did not understand it too well. Several of them simply put it
aside as too complex, and the same criticism was made of the financial instructions
which acomwumrthe Guide. (Particular note shoulAtte taken of that part of -
CA,-1005 which deals with the requirements of the Army Map Service. These
requirements seem to trouble the Publications Officers considerably, particularly
as in virtually all of the Latin American posts there are no Army Map Service
funds for selection, and, therefore, at test, the Publications Officers can only
pick up an occasional gratis item.) While much of the responsibility for poor
performance of the selection activity must be borne by the Publications Officers,
the universal criticism of CA-1005 leads us to conclude, nevertheless, that
'Some of the fault lies in this instruction.
In addition to the selection function, the Publications Officers, in
accordance with paragraph 943.22 of the Foreign Service Nhnual, are charged
with reporting on the availability of publications within the limitations of
time and. staff. This reporting by the part-time Publications Officers in Latin
America has been minimal. It is hoped that as a result of our trip and briefings,
the Publications Officers will better understand the urgent need for this type
of reporting and will find the time to do more of it intim future.
As indicated above, one of the major reasons that we undertook this trip
was to attempt, through briefings at the posts, to step up and strengthen the
Publications Program in Latin America. Ehving now talked with ten Publications
Officers in nine Ehbassies and one Consulate in Latin America, we have reached
certain firm conclusions as to the causes of the weakness of the Publications
Program there.
The first conclusion is that, almost without exception, members of the
Foreign Service look on their ad, hoc assignment as Publications Officer with
great distaste and perform it rather grudgingly. They see in this function
nothing which will in any way advance their professional careers, and
unsatisfactory performance of the publications function does not impede their
careers or at test produces only the lightest slap on the wrist. They see no
tangible results from whatever efforts they may expend on publications procure-
ment, and the whole program has only the most negative impact upon them.
The second. conclusion is that, while the publications assignment usually
falls to a member of the political section, which seams to be the best place
for it, it generally is assigned to one of the junior members of the section
who is also assigned a good many other miscellaneous Edbassy duties including
such functions as biographic reporting officer, protocol officer, or trans-
portation officer in addition to his political duties. The failure to produce
a book for the Publications Prowl= is minor to an officer compared to failure
to produce an automobile for awaiting and. visiting dignitary when the Officer's
duties include that of transportation officer in addition to his other work.
However, one must face up to the obvious fact that virtually all of the Officers
who are assigned to publications procurement work are seriously tmrdened with
their own major function (generally political reporting), and that in addition
to their major function they must often be assigned several other Embassy tasks,
of which publications procurement is but one. One cannot escape the need of this
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multiplicity of assignments, particularly at a small post. The feet remains,
however, that publications procurement is a Departmental function, covered
by Departmental directives, and failure to comply with these directives
satisfactorily is &dereliction of an officer's duty. Nevertheless, and with
full realization of the fact that many of these people are splendid officers,
somewhat overworked and their sections often understaffed, they all share a
unanimity of approach in that their publications procurement function is low
man on the totem pole, and the first thing, to be pushed aside when they are
busy. What this does to the Publications Program is obvious.
While the above generalities have been true in a vast majority of cases
in. Latin.America, there have been occasional rays of sunshine,_ largely as a
result of our trip. Ambassador Robert C. Bill in Mexico, after listening
to our Outline of the purposes of our trip - and the increasing importance of
the Publications Program, appointed& young and vigoroue pp* officer to handle
the Pdblicatione Program. As noted above, several young end newly appointed
Publications Officers give promise of being able and reasonably active after
having had:their functions clarified by our briefings at their posts. In
Montevideo, the newly appointed Publications Officer advised us that
Ambassador Robert P. Woodwardhed already on one or two occasions expressed
his interest in the program and his desire.. that the Publications Officer do
his best for it.
In summary, we found that the Publications Officer in Latin America who
could perform this function satisfactorily and cheerfully were few. There
are a few Publications Officers who are willing to perform the task within
the caveat of being already overburdened but willing to afford what little
extra time they may have to this function. There are a few whose obvious
footdragging gave Us little hope that we will get anything but perhaps the
most obvious iteMe from their posts. As noted above, several Of these
Officers are unwilling to make the time to perform the publications function
passably, as they feel it is an unimportant chore and makes little contribution
to their careere..- Fortunately, one of the worst of these has now been replaced.
Almost to summl the Publications Officers in Latin America had never set foot
in a local bookatore in support of the Publications Program, nor has the
thought of such a Visit ever occurred, to some of them. let, as noted above,
because of the general absence in Latin America of any. current reliable
bibliographical tOols? there is no substitute for the legwork which should
bring the P4blications Officer into at least one bookstore a week, and which
should require them at least once amonth to cover the very excellent Communist
Party bookstores which exist in several of: the cities Which ve visited. It
would also be useful, as they walk aroundthe city, if they would, look at the
newspaper stands and kiosks to keep an eye "'pen for new periodicals, many of
which it would be important to forward. to Headquarters for the use of the
analysts and other consumers.
What are the possible solutions to the weak performance of the Publications
Procurement function in Latin America? The first solution is to hope that, as
a result of the briefings which the Publications Officers received from us on
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our trip, the level of performance will be raised somewhat. However, we felt
that at same of the posts which we visited there will be comparatively little
improvement. It should also be'notedthat we have visited less than half of
the countries in the area, although, with the exception of Cuba, the major
countries have been coveted. 25X1C4a
The second possible solution is that Headquarters personnel
25X1C4a make an annual survey visttach
of the posts in the area; or possibly two semi-annual trips, covering South
America on one trip end Central America and the Caribbean countries on
another. While this thought was put forward by severalAmbiwumNiors or
Ministers at posts we visited, it would be necessary that the trip be of at
least three mouths duration to perform a survey satisfactorily. It could
not be done in lees time. We covered nine countries in exactly seven weeks
and probably dhouldbeve had almost another weak to avoid the comparative
Aktsping which we did in at least three cities. To cover this area in
three months time means that 'whoever made the trip will be away from his
deek longer than he probably should be at one stretch. It vniuld also mean
setUnge killing pace with virtually no break for the entire trip. Our
experience indicates that this would be so, for we had virtually no break
during the seven weeks we were away (Sundays often being used for administrative
matters). For instance, in Mexico City, several bookstores stay open until mid-
night; in Buenos Aires several stay open until almost one in the morning. In
several other cities, many bookstores stay open well into the evening, and we
were usually in them until the last one closed.
25X1C
The question can, be asked as to whether Latin America is important enough,
either politically or in volume of publications, to warrant a full time
Publications Officer. We feel that the answer to this question is in the
affirmative. Latin America is an area in turmoil. Almost every country is
graced with a certain amount of political instdbility and. nationalism is
increasing. /t bears a lot closer watching than is now being given to it,
for both the Soviets and the Chinese Communists are very active in political
and economic penetrations of the area vith resultant increases in Communist
pUblications. Uprisings in these countries often produce unfortunate reactions
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in the United, States Congress, whom members are generally more nervous
about problems to the south of us then in other underdeveloped areas.
For example, in the short period of seven veeks during which we were in
Latin America the situation in Cuba continued to deteriorateimarked,
among other things by Castro's outrageous charge that the United States
bad sabotaged and. blown up a ahip in Havana harbor; a revolt started in
Venezuela; there was a small uprising in Bolivia; there was a modified
state of siege in Buenos Aires daring the congressional elections, which
took place while we were there; and there are presidential election
campaigns under way in Brazil and Panama. All of these situations produce
books pamphlets, and commentary in periodical literature. The constant
economic expansion in Brazil and Venezuela, bring forth economic studies
and statistics which should be available to the analyst in publication
form (and which we have not been receiving). The hemisphere is an important
source of Communist propaganda material from the Bloc and frmn the Chinese
Communists. Shortly before we arrived in Montevideo, one airliner arrival
from Europe with 200 sacks of such material in its hold. We were toll from
the best figures available, that the Soviet subsidy of publications in
MOntevideo alone probably exceeds over half the entire USIA budget for all
of Latin ?America. Thus, there is in our minds no question that the area is
Important enough, awl the publications are numerous enough, to warrant the
appointment of a Regional Publications Officer for Latin America. His
presence lathe area and. his continuity in the post for at least two tours
would serve to supervise and better coordinate the activities of the part-
time Publications Officers at all of the posts in 'Attu America and would
tnneasurably increase the flow of worthOhile publications if the right type
of officer were appointed.
It would appear particularly important to make such an appointment at
this time not only because of the increase in Latin American Communist Party
publications and Bloc propaganda efforts, but particularly because of the
present fall off in the export of Chinese Communist publications from the
China mainland. We feel that the first area, where the Chinese ban may be
lifted could well be Latin America, because of the community of interest which
the People's Republic of China is striving to develop in Latin America. We
were told at one post that a Communist Party decision had been reached there
to the effect that if local Party funds were only available to translate one
book as between a Russian book and a, Chinese Communist book, the Chinese book
would have the priority.
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Finally, the peculiarly lackadaisical business methods of the Latin
American booksellers and publishers and the lack of the usual bibliographical
tools makes it highly desirable that a full time Publications Officer be
placed in Latin America for at least two continuous tours, so that he may
come to know and. be known by the booksellers and. publishers in the area.
Virtually none of the present part-time Publications Officers have made or
given any indication of making such contacts. It is our belief that the
only way in which we will be able to prevent being caught short in the
publications field in this vital area is to place a full time, Regional
Publications Officer in Latin America, and we so strongly recommend.
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3. AVAILABILITY' AND SCUMS OF PUBLICATIONS IN LATIN ANEREA
The publications tndustry in Latin America varies markedly in slos and
quality from country to country, and the bookstores vary to the saw degree.
Without a doubt, Buenos Aires is the largest publishing center in the area,
and. Argentine publications receive wide distribution throughout Letin America.
The second major publishing center is Mexico City, mue third In order of
importance is Santiago, Chile. However, while Argentine books are available
in considerable numbers in every city we visited, and while Nazis= publications
do achieve a general, although somewhat lesser, distribution la the area the
publications of other countries throughout Latin Ameriintare piAty generally
restricted to their country of origin. In Brazil, the publicoftoi-0, of course,
are in Portuguese; and, from the standpoint of the customers at the ziblications
Procurement Program, Sao Paulo is pewhapst -Its most important onnter ana of
greater significance than Rio de Janeiro. Roweink, Rio is the rain souxoe of
Brazilian Government publications and will continue to be so until the traosfer
of agencies to the new capital of Brasilia has been completed. While there
were &considerable number of Spanish language publicationi 4Wailable in
Brazil, there were virtually no Brazilian publications avallaWie in other ,
Latin-American countries. In addition, it should be noted that many of the-
bookstores which we visited throughout Latin America carried acme small quantity
of publications from Spain. The majority of these tended to be in the field of
classical literature.
As publications centers of secondary importance in size, one should note
Nbntevideo Lima and Caracas. Nbntevideo, however, derives its Importance
to the Publication Program not so much fran the indigenous publications as
from the fact that it well may be the most important center in Latin America
for the Importation and distribution of Soviet and other Communist Bloc
literature and, propaganda. Pammmiand.GUatemala produce a few publications
of interest outside of the newspaper field and government publications. The
booksellers in Guatemala City, Panama City, and Coldn are very few in number,
small in size and their stores usually combine books with the selling of
stationery and school supplies. The countries which we visited (other than
Guatemala and Panama) all contain bookstores ' which some are restricted to
comparatively new books, some handle only secondhand publications, and some
carry both.
From the standpoint of availability, Buenos Aires appears to have the
largest number of worthwhile bookstores, with Mexico City second, Santiago,
Sao Paulo, and Rio third, and Lite, Niontevideopand Caracas with lesser numbers.
From the standpoint of the customer of the Publications Proeurement Frowns',
and in particular the analysts of the intelligence community, most of the
cities we Visited offer publications of considerable interest in the fields
of politics, international relations, and economics. These publications run
the full ideological gpmit fran right tO far left. In addition, one must
stress the availability of periodicals of interest throughout Latin America.
These also range the full ideological spectrum and are of particular interest
in the fields of politics, international relations, and economics. These are
available to some extent in bookstores, and, to an even greater extent on the
newsstands and kiosks Which abound on the Street corners of Latin American
cities. While subscriptions to a great many Latin. American periodicals and
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newspapers have been received in =pp over the past years through specific
orders placed with our Embassies there, we found and have brought back samples
Noe' of many new periodicals which have ?dammed publishing in the last few months,
and width appear to have considerable valise for the intelligence analyst and
other customers of the Publications Program. It should be noted that, in
several of the cities which we visited, the standard pro-Castro When periodicals
were readily available?in particular Bohemia and Carteles, as well as IRM, the
new publication of the Instituto Nacional de Reforms Agraria (National Agrarian
Reform Institute).
Of particular importance in certain cities in Latin America are the well
stocked Communist Party stores. Of these the best Are livraria des Bandeiras
in Sao Paulo and Libreria EPU (Bdiciones these,
Unidos) in Mbntevideo. Slightly
behind these two in quality and quantity is Distribuidora Magrija in Caracas.
Other Party outlets in Mexico City, Santiago, and Rio do not measure up to
these three, either in quantity or quality, although rondo de is Culture Popular
? in Mexico City runs a close fourth.
These stores, particularly those in Sao Paulo, Mbntevideo, and Caracas,
carry an excellent stock of not only local Party material and books by local
Communists and fellow travellers on varying subjects of Latin American interest,
but also carry full stocks of the standard publications of the Foreign Languages
? Publishing Rouse in Mbscow (including all of the Communist classics), and the
publications of the Foreign Languages Press in Peking through the year 1959.
While many of these publications are in Spanish, editions in other languages
(generally English or French) are sold. when Spanish transaations are not
available. There is comparatively little of this material published in
Portuguese. In addition, Mexico City sod. Montevideo each have &bookstore
which appears to be almost purely a Soviet outlet, but with a smattering of
Chinese Communist publications as yell.
Many Communist publications (both Soviet Bloc and local) are also available,
mixed in with the general stock, in a good many of the other bookstores we
visited. This is particularly true in the Argentine, where the police have
locked and sealed the Communist Party headquarters and the bookstore it contains.
It should be noted that the overwhelming majority of useful publications in
Latin America deal with problems and. subjects indigenous to that area. We found
virtually nothing useful of letinAmeiican origin on other arena of the world.
With one or two exceptions, there was nothing useful origine4ing in Latin
America on the subject of the Soviet Union or its technological advances. Bow-
ever, the publications available in Latin America on the area itself are of
the greatest importance to those analysts and other customers of the Publications
Program who are working on Latin American problems, and they are available in
such profusion as to require the continual attention of the Publications Officers
in making them available to the program's customers.
A detailed country-by-country breakdown describing the major useful bookstores
in each country we visited, and their specialities, is appended as Tab A.
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ACQUISITION OF PUBLICATIONS FOR THE CIA HISTORICAL INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION
(H10)
One of the purposes of the trip was to acquire publications for the CIA
Historical Intelligence Collection (RIO). This is a special library of overt
publications on all aspects of intelligence and intelligence tradecraft, from
the earliest days to the present. For special training purposes it includes 25X1A9a
books on intelligence in all languages, including translations.
is the Curator of this collection.
RIO is faced with the same shortcomings in the Publications Procurement
Program in Latin America as are the other customers. Although the annual
Selection Guide contains a detailed requirement charging Publications Officers
with acquiring books for RIC, the Curator of the Collection can recall no
instance in which any of the Publications Officers in Latin America have
selected books for RIC in response to this requirement or reported on their
availability. Their response to specific order requests, however, has generally
been satisfactory. In the course of briefing the Publications Officers at the
various posts, we called their attention- to the need for selecting books in
support of the BIC requirement, and, it is hoped that same of these may now
be forthcoming.
25X1A9a
In the course of this trip, purchased something in the
neighborhood of 250 volumes in Spanish and Portuguese for RIC. We estimate
that almost 60 percent of this material are Spanish or Portuguese translations
of books published originally in English, French, Russian and other languages,
and (ultimate that about 40 percent of them were original Latin, American
publications. It is hard to assess the final figure in this regard, as less
than half the books have arrived in Washington at the present writing.
25X1A9a The fact that could acquire so nem books for BIC on this
trip is a further example of the fact that the Publications Program has not
been operating satisfactorily in Latin America either in selecting or reporting
on the availability of publications.
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5. PROCUREMENT OF CHINESE COMMUNIST PUBLICATIONS
One of the most important purposes of this trip was to attempt to ascertain
whether there were available in Latin America any Chinese Communist publications
published. after 1 January 1960. The publications desired were those other than
the purely propaganda issuances such as China Reconstructs, China Illustrated,
Women of China, Evergreen, and the PekingsReview, all of which are still readily
available in 1960 issues.
The reason that this survey was undertaken in Latin America was that, as of
1 January 1960, there had been a tremendous fall off in the export of Chinese
Communist publications. To cite some examples as to the scope of this fall
off: in 1959, CIA obtained subscriptions to 351 distinct periodical titles
from Hong Kong; while in 1960 we are getting eight; in 1959 we had 258 Chinese
Communist periodical subscriptions placed. through Berlin; while in 1960 we
are getting five. The comparable figure through Prague is 99 to three; our
86 Chinese Communist periodical subscriptions have dropped from 86 to zero
in Warsaw; and in Paris, the 36 newspaper and periodical subscriptions we
received in 1959 have now been reduced to zero. Overall, the 1963 subscrip-
tions to Chicom newspapers and periodicals, other than the purely propaganda
titles, have probably fallen off about 75 percent. Thus it can be seen that
the intelligence analysts and other users charged with the analysis of Chinese
Communist publications in all fields, including political, economic scientific
and technical, are at a serious disadvantage due to the present fall off in
%0 the export of these Chinese Communist publications.
It is believed that this fall off is due to a paper shortage in the
People's Republic of China, resulting from the increase in the internal
demand for reading material to bolster the anti-illiteracy campaign on the
mainland. In this connection, one notes the Chicom tread the books movement*"
which requires political units in the schools to promote a "bumper harvest"
of student reading; and the "study campaign," which requires Chicom Party
workers to persuade the populace to study and read. Given this drive on
illiteracy and other efforts to increase the educational level of the papule-
tion in the People's Republic of China, and, given a comparative shortage of
newsprint* two things happened. The first was that there was some adultera-
tion in the quality of the paper in those propaganda magazines which came
out on slick paper. Some of these now appear in 1960 editions on noticeably
cheaper stock with resultant decrease in the quality of photographic reproduc-
tion. The second result has been the complete 1960 ban on the export of all
but the purely propaganda type of Chicom publications.
We felt that the Chinese Communist attempt to establish a basic community
of interest with Latin America, and, the ascendancy of the Chinese Communist
movement in that area, might allow the export of their publications into
Latin America in 1960 in spite of the general ban elsewhere, or that there
might be sufficient traffic between the two continents so that a series of
publications exchanges might be in the making. Such has not proven to be the
case. The same general ban on the export of Chinese Communist publications
Nftl for 1960 exists in Latin America as elsewhere. No stores in the hemisphere
are carrying any of the 1960 Chicom publications, other than the purely
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propaganda publications noted above, such as China Illustrated China Reconstructs,
Peking Review, Women of China, Evergreen and, a few others. These latter are
available in profusion in many bookstores in most of the Latin American countries,
as well as on newstands in many of the major cities.
In 1959, CIA received more than 3300 Chinese Communist books and monographs,
of which aome 50 percent were cultural, 20 percent were scientific and technical,
and 15 percent each were political and economic. While it is still too early
to measure the complete size of the fall off in this type of 1960 Chicom publica-
tion, it can be stated that they are not now available in any of the bookstores
in Latin America. The profusion of Chinese Communist books andmonographs
published by the Foreign Language Press in Peking are present in large quantities
in all of the Communist Party bookstores of Latin America, as well as in many
other stores, but none of these publications are dated later than 1959. Many
of them exist in Spanish translations in the various stores noted in Tab A of
this report. But where the text of Chinese Communist works are not available
in Spanish, they are often carried, by these stores in their English or French
versions as published in Peking. The major fact to note is that they do exist
in considerable numbers in many countries of Latin America in editions published
through 1959.
/n querying the various Communist Party bookstores in Latin America for
1960 Chicom publications, each in tura reported that they did. not have any.
It was apparent that this vas the truth, and not an attempt on the ;art of
the bookseller to conceal anything, for these booksellers are in business to
sell, and they appear willing to sell to any customer in the store without
regard to his political or national affiliation. Many of the booksellers ex-
pressed regret that they did not have these 1960 publications and were unable
to account for their non-availability. Many were puzzled. and reported that they
normally received these publications, but had not received, any 1960 editions.
They had written Peking to inquire concerning their lack, but had. received, no
response. Only one bookstore, Livraria daS Bandeiras in Sao Paulo, Brazil,
had put a finger on the answer. They toldfus that their initial reaction was
that the fall off was due to administrative inefficiency in Communist China;
that they realized that the books had along distance to come, that sometimes
this took time, and they felt that this was a temporary Aberration. Then this '
bookseller pointed out to us, and. asked whether we had noted, the deterioration
in the quality of the paper in many of the Chinese Communist propaganda periodi-
cals and finally they stated that they thought that the real reason was due to
the possibility of a paper shortage in China. However, only this one Party
store had reached. so astute a conclusion.
Thus it appears that, until there occurs same change in the internal
situation in Communist China, covert assets will be the major source of supply
for these Chicom publications during 1960.
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7. RECOMMENDAT/OHS
25X1C4
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2. DD/I briefings or outgoing Anbassadors should include amention of
the importance of the Publications Program to the Intelligence Community and
25X1C4a urge the AMbassador's support of the Program at his Embassy.
4. If a, Regional Publications Officer for Latin America is not appointed,
a representative from ICD/FP should make an annual survey trip at least to
the major book centers in the area.
5. The processing of orders for specific publications from /CD/FP to the
field can continue to be handled. by administrative persennel in the Embassies,
as at present. However, the Publications Officers should be advised of these
specific orders and keep abreast of them to a much greater extent than they
now do. Publications Officers should advise ICD/FP of the non-availability
of material requested in specific orders or the non-availability of the desired
number of copies.
6. The selection of, and reporting on, available publications by the
Publications Officers in Latin America must be improved. The Publications
Officers shoull visit bookstores on a regular basis, as well as keeping an
eye on the newstands ani kiosks Tor new periodicals. In Particular, the very
excellent Communist Party outlets should be well covered.
7. The entire attitude of the Publications Officers towards their duties
in this field must be improved. Publications procurement cannot be considered
the least of their functions if the Program is to operate satisfactorily in
Latin America. In that the Program is covered by State Department directives
stemming from a Presidential Executive Order, these directives must be complied
with, and the Publications Officers should find the time to do so.
8. The annual publications selection guide (CA-1005 for F/Y 60) must be
simplified and made more understandable. It should be prepared on a regional
basis, rather than on a world-wide basis as at present., Its accompanying
documents, such as the fiscal instructions, should also be rewritten.
9. The selection funds at each poet should be turned over in a lump sum
to the Publications Officers as a petty cash fund, where the Embassy regula-
tions permit, so that the Publications Officer does not have to go to the
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fiscal officer officer every time he buys a book or periodical. The Publications
Officer can then account periodically to the Enbassy fiscal officer. This
will simplify the work for all.
10. ICD/FP should communicate directly with the Publications Officer in
the Consulate at Sao Paulo, and this Officer should be given his own selection
funds independent of Rio de Janeiro. This is recommended because of the
importance of Sao Paulo as a pUblicationg center, and the impending decline of
Rio as a major center for pub:110E41one, The Minister/Counselor at the Embassy
in Rio has approved this arrangement, and steps should be taken to implement
it.
11. As long as the present Chinese Communist ban on the normal export of
their publications continues, the Publications Officers Should exercise special
vigilance in watching for their appearance in bookstores and on nevstands
throughout Latin America. cRowever, at the present time, this doge not promise
25X1A6d to produce el': .ublications, and therefore temporary arrangements have been
.?
25X1 C4a
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25X1A9a
The following pages contain a general evaluation of the availability
of publications in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama,
Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Also included is a detailed pnalysis of
the more useful book storec in the
(and Sao Paulo) visited by
on their trip, February-April 1960.
An asterisk (*) before the name of a bookstore indicates that it is
an outlet which carries a significant quantity of Communist or pro-Communist
material. Where such a store is an outright Communist outlet, controlled
either by the local party or a Bloc nation, this is so stated.
The term "general store" indicates that the outlet carries a diversi-
fied stock, including such material ap reference books, dictionaries,
serious political and economic works, books on international relations,
school books, university texts, novels, poetry, art, etc.
The term "kiosks" is used to indicate newsstands or other open air
stands, usually individually located on street corners or in arcades in
a block of stores; sometimes clustered in a sort of specialized market,
ususlly called a Feria del Libra. Such kiosks are often the best outlets
for Communist publications aimed at the local workers, and they are often
the source of out-of-print and other hard-to-find material. Latin
American cities abound with such kiosks, and they are worthy of special
attention, not only for this type of material but also for the many
periodicals and newspapers (which bookstores often do not stock) not
always available on regular subscription. Usually not named, and without
an officiti1 street address, these kiosks are highly important sources of
publications throughout Latin America.
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ARMINTINA
A) General Availability
Seven days were devoted to briefing, surveying and purchasing in
Buenos Aires. rue to the intervening weekend, only six days were e.ctuaLly
available for our canvass of the bookstores, but many stores were open until
late in the evenings (a fey as late as 1 AM) and, because of the great number
of stores the extent of the publishing industry, and. the geographical spread
of the city, we customarily worked. until the last store had closed.
Argentina is undonbtedly the publishixtg center of Latin America.
Despite the recent internal strife Ea the consequent disruption of the normal
patterns of business and life it retains its preeminent paace in the field
of publishing. Argentine bode; are to be found in quantity throughout Latin
America rivalled only by Mexican publications and some few Chilean works
(neither of which really approach the Argentine in sheer quantity outside their
own barders; Sao Paulo, while also a. major center, restricts its sales to Brazil
and. possibly Portugal, because of the language difference). Everything is
published in Argentina, from the sleaziest paperbacks to the finest books and.
periodicals in the fields ofpolitics economics medicine law, philosophy
and. literature. Argentina is the onl; Latin AmeLcan country, for example,
producing economic and. political periodicals of hemisphore-wide significance
In aey quantity, and le one of the few to produce more than one news periodical
of the class of the US publications "Time" and "Newsweek." Here, too, are to be
found Many of the more important works of US, European and other Latin American
authors, both in the original language and. in translation. Same of these latter
publications are imported, but many (if not most) are locally produced editions.
However, a provision of Argentine law, we aro told, teas to restrict the import-
export trade in books. That is while Argentine books maybe generally exported
and foreign publications can ut4ally be imported., there are certain restrictions
particularly on the re-caport of imported. books. More than one dealer informed
us that they were unwilling to undertake the shipment of publications direct to
the US or other countries because of the difficulties involved, in getting the
necessary permits, particularly to export foreign publications which the book-
seller stocks.
The recent allack4Wwn by the Argentine government on the local Communists
has severely llmitedl but by no means put an en a to, the publications activities
of that political group. There are on the local market many publications which,
if not actually Communist, are of a very radical. Leftist line and adhere closely
to the thought patterns of the Communists. In addition nearly every kiosk and
newstand in the city carries Soviet Bloc and Chicom proPagande publication's such
as URSS, Revista de GDR, China Reconstruye, etc. The Soviet Embassy, we were
toi3:-Eis been ana continues to be very active in pushing the distribution and
sale of this latter type of material.
Anti-Cammmistimblications, too, appear in relatively large quantity.
AGA is amajor publisher of this type of material, wetly in translation of
US titles. AGORA maintains a large and. vell-organized establishment, but sells
only to the bookstores and not to the public. This firm, for example, produces
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a Spanish language abridgment of Dallia's Soviet Espionage.
An interesting development in the area of availability is the recent
organization of a publishers' cooperative, operating under the name CODILIBRO,
which offers through one central source the product of approximately fifteen
Argentine publishers. Thin group plane to open at least one retail outlet in
Buenos Aires in the near future, but at present it acts only as a clearing-
house for orders of books of its member firma. CODILIBRO is currently being
supervised, by a W. Jean-George Kirchheimer, owner of the Libreria :Mandragora
(specializing in the sale of French publications) and a former member of the
French Military Government staff in Germany. According to Kirchheimer, the
CODILIBRO cooperative undertakes to sell its medbers' publications but ex-
ercises no editorial control over their offerings. As a consequence, the
association members range frau quite conservative to quite radical Leftist in
their publishing policies and in the material they offer for sale. A CODILIBRO
catalog, plus separate catalogs of the individual members, were provided. by
Mr. Kirchheimer, who further informed us that CODILIBRO (Suipacha 612, Buenos
Aires) is prepared to ship beaks Abroad and has, indeed, already made same
sales in Mexico.
Periodical publications, totally aside from newspapers, abound in
Buenos Aires, Sample copies of about ten publications new to ICD/FP were
acquired and will be circulated to Washington analysts. While a few of these
are apparently publications of long standing of which we were previously un-
aware, many are totally or relatively new, titles of which only one or two
issues have appeared. Among these were such publications as Situacidn
(a new. Leftist monthly of political and economic commentary; very anti-US and
closely follows the Communist line; Issue NO. 1, March 1960, is predominantly
Prensa Latina material); Expresick (a quarterly political review of the
Communist-front Llga Argentine par las Derechos del Hodbra -- Argentine League
for the Rights of Man); Revista do Politica Internacional (a conservatively
inclined. monthly review of international politics Which appears friendly to
the US); Cleve la leftist, probably Socialist, monthly review of politics
and. economics); and Suma (a new economic review published by the Instituto de
Cultura Economica, Buenos Aires).
Buenos Aires also features a small shop specializing in dictionaries
and grammars in all languages. Although small in size, the shop has an ex-
cellent and. varied stock of this material. The owner informed us that he is
fully prepared to supply any dictionary or grammar available anywhere in the
world in any combination of languages. He further informed us, with considerable
pride, that there were only three other such establishments in the world, one
each in New York, London, and. Paris.. This shop, known as LA CASA DE LOS
DICCIONAR/OS, advertises dictionaries in thirty different languages, and
states that he is prepared to ship books abroad on request.
B) Retail Outlets
The following are a few representative samples of the many excellent
sources in Buenos Aires. No purely Communist outlet was found operating openly
*4101 at this time.
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1) CASA DE LOS EaCCIONARIOS
Tucuman 844
Specializes in dictionaries and grammar; see Section A, Above,
for 'further comment.
*2) CODILIBR 0
Suipacha 612
A cooperative distributorship for about 15 Argentine publishers;
politleal slant ranges from .far Right to far Left; see Section Al
above, for further comsat'
3) LIBRERIA TABARE
Corrientes 1650
A secondhand book shop; section in rear has large, well-organized,
neatly segregated collection of Communist works; most from FLPH
(Moscow), but some local also; good source for this material;
good source for out-of-print and other hard-to-find older books.
4) EDITORIAL AGORA
S. Salguero 32
PObliching house (not a retail store) who norMs11y sells only
to dealers but can be (and was) persuaded to sell direct to
us); spool:aims in books exposing OomMUnisM s44.*Viet
duplicity; good material.
5). EDTTGRIALKRAFT
Reconquista 319-327
A publisher and general store dealing largely in the purely
cultural material. Howeverv.pUblishes "Anuario Kraft,"
an Argentine yearbook of the Who's Who type; '.previously published
an international yearbook, but this is now defunct. These are the
best, and almost the only, annuals of this type available in Latin
America -- the .suspended international edition, :maybe revived in
the future.
*6) LIBRMA ESOPO
Corrientes 579
An excellent general stare; carries some pro- and some anti-
Communist material; store remains open until midnight or 1 AM
daily except Sunday.
7) LIBRERIA EL ATEME0
Florida 340
Good general store; large steak but poor staff; much law, many
dictionaries, good. assortment of political and economic, as well
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8) KIOSKS
Kiosks and newstands dot the city. Avenida Florida, closed to
vehicular traffic during the day, has many both on street and
in adjoining arcades; many more on Ave. 25 de Maw. Kiosks
carry publications mentioned in Section A, above, and many
others of possible interest; nearly all stock Soviet and Chicom
propaganda pictorials and cultural periodicals.
C) Bibliographic Aids
In common with most of Latin America, reliable bibliographic
references are very scarce in Argentina. The Boletin Btbliografico Nacional,
previously published by the Ministerio de Educacaa, has ceased publication
"temporarily", but no definite word was available on its expected revival.
Two new publications in this field have started up. One, the catalog
of the Camara Tecnico del Libro (publication bears same name), lists publisherb
and bookdealers specializing in technical books only. Its periodicity is un-
certain at this time, but it is likely to be a quarterly. The Publications
Officer has seat sample copies to Washington. The other bears the title Biblos
and is the trade journal of the remaining (non-technical) publishers. We were
unable to obtain copies while in Buenos Aires, but have requested the Publications
Officer to obtain and. forward this publication. The Camara Tecnico Del Libro
is located at Venezuela 668, Buenos Aires, while the non-technical group
(known simply as Camara Del Libra) is located at Sarmiento 528, Buenos Aires.
Local reports are that relations between these two trade associations are not
of the best, and each disparages the other's publication.
Again, even in this principal publications center of Latin America,
adequate coverage can be obtained solely by physical canvassing of the book-
stores and kiosks due to the leak of proper bibliographic tools. Many publishers
offer sporadic lists of current offerings, and copies were obtained wherever
possible. The CODILIBRO catalog offers a fairly wide selection, but even this
does not include all of the publications available from its members. An
adequate, nationwide bibliographic reference simply does not exist at the
present time.
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BRAZIL
A) General Availability
Being somewhat pressed for time at this juncture in our trip, we
acceded to geographic convenience and visited Sao Paulo prior to Rio de
Janeiro. These two cities will be discussed separately.
Sao Paulo is, despite the triteness of the expression, a rather
fabulous city. The economic development here is far better described as an
explosion than as a mere expansion' Sao Paulo is, industrially and economically,
the "tail that wags the Brazilian dog." in consequence, Sao Paulo is, beyond
question, the major publishing center of Brazil, and one of the major publishing
centers of Latin America. In comparison and with the sole exception of official
government publications (many of whiWare also available in Sao Paulo), Rio
de Janeiro pales to insignificance. Not Only books but many excellent periodicals
in the fields of economics and politics are published here. Here, too, we found
one of (if not the) best-stocked and bestforganized Communiat Party bookstores
in all Latin America....only the. Party etores in Montevideo and Ceracas approach
it in excellence. Due to the limitation on our time, (end in the Mistaken
impression that Rio Would be more fruitful than it in feet preyed to be), we
were able to devote only three days to Sae Paulo. Suffice it to eay that, as
a result of an intensive if rapid'survey, we bare arranged to reinstate a
PUblicatione Officer at Sao Paulo and. provide him with indepSndent selection
funds. Olio has concurred in this arrangement).
Rio de Janeiro, aside from the official government publications,
actukliybo little to offer. Only a few publishers operate here, and most
PrivatelY pOlishedmaterial comes from Sao Paulo sources. MO feOnd only one
really good bookstore in Rio, although there are many stores and kiosks through-
out the downtown area and in Popacabana. One dealer in Rio specializes in
Russianlanguage publications of the Foreign Languages pUblishing House (FLPR),
Moscow, but the local Ommuunidt party bookstore is perhaps the pOorest we en-
countered anywhere, and, indeed, many general stores in Other Latin American
cities carried a greater quantity end variety of Communist publigations. Rio
does, however, remain the best source of government publications, (and will
continue to be so until all the moves to the new capital at Brasilia are
completed). The Oetulio Vargas Institute is a local source of good-quality
economic and political studies. An interesting facet 9r the Rio book market
(see below), is the series of pUblishersi. kiosks in the Pra9e, da Armas, about
one block from the US &bossy. .
73) Retail Outlets
The f011owing are the more fruitful outlets in SAO PAOLO:
*.1) LIVRARIA DAS BANDBIRAS
Rua Riachuelo 342
One of, if not the, best Communist Party stores in Latin America;
excellent stook of local, Soviet, Bloc and Chicom material; Chicom
material except cultural items, not more recent than December 1094
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No difficulty entering and. buying here. NB:- Comparatively
little material found in Portuguese except local products;
both Soviet and Chicam aources provide most material in
Spanish, French or %at. sh; dealer says Portuguese editions
slowly increasing from these sources.
2) LIVRARIA BRASILIENSE
Rue Barao de Itapetininga, 93-99
A good general store; some Communist and pro-Communist material;
good on dictionaries, law, economics, current politics; carries
some periodicals; much anti-Communist material.
3) LIVRARIA FRE1TAS BANOS
15 de Novembre? 62-66
An excellent general store; carries books about Communism
(mostly anti-Communist) but no Communist books per se. Ex-
cellent law collection.
4) KIOSKS
The city is liberally spotted with newstands and kiosks; most
carry some Canmunist material and some anti-Communist material.
A survey in the industrial quarter did not reveal any special
concentration of local Party or other Communist material here.
Most such items are availeble on kiosks (and in stores) in the
center of the city. '
The following are the more fruitful outlets in RIO DE JANEIRO:
1) LIVRARIA LER
Rua Mexico 31-A
An excellent general store; some few pro-Communist publications,
much anti-Communist material; good for dictionaries general
economics and political items, law, general cultural items.
2) KIOSKS
The city bus :new kiosks end newstands, all of which carry
some pro- and same anti-Communist material; pro-Communist
material less in evidence here than in Sao Paulo.
Worthy of special mention, the series of about eight kiosks
located in a row on the Prase, de Armes. Each major publisher
hag a tiny, triangular staga. here and this is probably the best
source of Communist pUblications (among others) in Rio; the
Communist publisher, EDITCRIAL VITORIA, has a kiosk here.
(V1TORIAls actual store0:the local Party outlet, ia located at
Rua Juan Pablo Duarte .50 end is perhaps one of the poorest
collections of useless and.outdated Communist material we en-
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3) INTUNLIV
Rua Senador Dentas 93 (upstairs)
Specializes in. Russian-language publications of FLPH, Moscow;
owner is outspokenly pro-Communist and pro-Soviet; appears to
be a Russian immigrant.
C) Bibliwaphic Aids
In common with the rest of Latin America, Brazil is extnsmoly deficient
in bibliograOhic aids of way sort. The only reasonably good publication in the
field is the Boletim Bibliografico Brasileiro of the Chia? Brasileira de Etcritores,
which last appeared in October, 19,9. We were unable to discover definitely if
this publication would be pUblished again in 1960. The newly appointed Publications
Officer in Sao Paulo, where the organization is located, will look into the
matter further. A. very few publishers and. bookstores make available a sporadic'
and spotty list of current offerings. These are not only irregular and unreliable
in their periodicity, but extremely limited in their utility and content. Again,
there is no substitute for a phi/sisal:canvass of stores and publishers if this
important source of publications is tO.be'Adequately covered. This canvassing
must be done in both Rio and Sao.Paulo,:**1 it would probably be fruitful to
make a canvass of the less important cent* of Porto Alegre (which, due to
limitations on our time, we were unable to visit).
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arm
A) General Availability'
One full week was devoted to briefing, surveying and purchasing
in Santiago, which is a falai active and. important publishing center.
Nowever, in March, When we were there, the industry was relatively inactive.
It appears to be the local practice drastically to reduce activity during
their summer months, and we were told that several publishers had new books
in theirwarehouses or still on the presees which would not be released
for sale until April or Nay. Nevertheless, :11 bookstores were open, and we
were able to make a goodly number of purchases and canvas more than thirty
outlets of varying political coloration, plus numerous kiosks and newstands.
Same Communist and pro-Communist pUblications? both local and
foreign., are available in most bookstores in Santiago. There are, however,
four outlets which devote their shelves almost entirely to this material,
one of which is the kiosk in the doorway of the Chilean Communist Party
headquarters. Rare, as in the other major Communist outlets, we encountered
no difficulty in entering and making purchases of some local Chilean Communist
Party publications, despite the ?obvious fact that we were "gringos." Indeed,
even in the Chilean-Soviet Cultural Institute, although we did not get past
the second floor reception desk, we were politely received and were able not
only to purchase books but to get answers to a few questions on availability
of other publications. At the ChileanpCommunist Chinese Friendship Society,
however, we made no purchases for the double reason that the atmosphere was
something less than cordial and few publications of any sort were in evidence.
In Santiago, as elseehere on this trip, we found that nothing vas available
from Communist China after 1 January 1960 except for the cultural propaganda
publications which are still available throughout the world (i.e., China
. rr
Reconstruct4, 94* T9.0.ffp etc.).
In checking on the availability of certain bibliographic aids which
bad not been received in Washington for some time, we discovered. (as in Lima)
that local publishing costs, largely duo to the extremely high cost of paper,
Vere prohibitive and. were baying a distinct braking effect on the local in-
dustry. We were informed, however, that the President of Chile (Alessandri)
was taking steps to break up the existing monopoly in the paper industry, and
that this was expected to lower costs and stimulate the publishing industry.
Illustrative of the high paper costs, we were told by one of the principal
bookdealers that a small blank pad of white paper (somewhat smaller than our
standard 5 x 8 red) cost him the equivalent of twenty-two cents (US).
B) Retail Outlets
In Santiago, the more fruitful outlets are all vithin a few blocks
of the Rahway. The following, while representing only a small portion of the
outlets visited, are typical of the more fruitful sources.
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?
1) LIBRERIA AMOCO
Santo Domingo 216
Almost exclusively Communist Material; mostly Soviet, some
local, and a very few Chinese Communist publications. Much
of the Chicon material is in English.
*2) LIBRERIA MARIA BARRE
Teatinos 416
A kiosk in the doorway of the Chilean Communist Party hes&
quarters. Small but good atock; mostly local Party pdblications
with some Soviet - no Chicam-material noted. Rol problem enter-
? ing and. buying.
*3)
LIBRERIA ORBE
Agustinas, between Estado
and. San Antonio (Galeria
Maperio? 255)
Described as Communist outlet, but more a general store with
some Soviet and 1*ml Connunist material; only Russian-Spanish
Grammar available in town found here (a translation of a British
English-Russian grammar). Can't fairly describe this as a
Communist outlet, but owner, a former member of the International
Brigade in Spain, is described as a Communist by same Chileans.
4) iamaxalzucTatin DEL nano?
Ahumada 57
A good general store; large diversified stock of reference works,
political and economic publications, and cultural material.
5) LIBRERIA PAX
Hnerfanos 756-772
A good, varied general store; many technical books? mostZy
translations of U.S., British, German, French authors.
6) FERIA DEL L/BRO (Local #7)
Alameda Bernado O'Higgins
(Between Estado and the
Biblioteci Nacional)
Consists of several open air stands. Stand ("Local") #7? directly
on street at corner nearest Bibliotecao very heavy on used Communist
pdblications; has aome new books, many current periodicals, all
Commtmist; most sold very cheaply and, customers consist of workers
and school children for the most part. Excellent source for local
aM Soviet materials, some Chiammaterial.
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7) =MERU uxuzasrmaA
Alameda Penedo O'Higgins 1058
The bookstore of the Universidad Nacional de Chile. A good
general store with some Marxist publications mixed in with
texts. One book on (astro, one economic periodical, one new
Marxist periodical found here (among others).
C) Bibliovaphic Aids
High publishing costs, largely due to the aforementioned high cost
of paper, has eliminated many of the previously existing bibliographic publi-
cations. Only one private publisher (ZAWRANO y CIAPERAN, Cappania 1015) still
publiehes such a work, and this, the Servicio Bibliografiso Chileno, appears
only quarterly and is by no means a complete listing. Sem Zamorano told us
that they may be forced to suspend publication if paper costs continue at their
current high lovel, but the firm is reluctant to see the end of what is now the
oldest work of its kind in ccotinuous existence in Chile. Zamorano has agreed
to mail copies of this publication direct to the Department of State in Washing-
ton.
The Biblioteca Central (which formerly published the Anuario de
Pdblicaciones Periodicae Chilenas) not only no longer publishes the work, but
no one there seemed even to remember that they had ever published it. Neither
the Biblioteca Nacional nor the Biblioteca Universitaria admitted to any know-
ledge of the supposedly annual list of the Deposit? Legal, a governmental listing
of all pdblications printed in Chile during the year. Editorial del Pacifico,
Editorial Horizonte, Biblioteca de la Universidad Nacional, and. the Servicio
Nacional de Eatadisticos y Censos have all apparently suspended publication of
their annuals.
Some few:publishers (notably Editorial del Pacifieo) publish a list
of current offerings at irregular intervals. A few of these dealers' "catalogs"
were acquired and the Publications Officer vas requested to obtain ath forward
future issues when, and if, they appear. In short, adequate coverage in Santiago
can only be had. bya physical canvass of the stores at frequent (due to the
limited editions in which most books appear) and regular intervals.
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GUATEMALA'
A) General Availability
As vas anticipated, we found very few useful publications available
in, Guatemala, at this time, other than the -daily newspapers. The main objective
of the stop here Was to brief the new Publications Officer on his procurement
functions, particularly in view of the inoreasing Communist efforts to re-
establish themselves in this country and the possible increase of Communist
pdblications j Guatemala.
A visit was made to the University of Can Carlos Press where we
found that a current publication? list is available (copies Obtained) and that
supplementary Sheets are issued at infrequent and irregular intervals. Titles
listed consist mostly of brief theses masa occasional book authored by students
or professors of the University. We are informed that copies of these publica-
tions are supplied on an exchange basis with several US universities, and. that
copies are sent to the Library of Comgress. The Publications Officer vas pro-
vided with a copy of this current list anti requeabed. to scan sawermmit supple-
ments (which the University Press has promised to send him) for agy titles of
possible interest to the program.
Official government publications constitute the only .other worthwhile
material currently available. These are supplied to the Embassy gratis end
sent to the US by the appropriate attach (political, economic, etc..), The
Publications Officer will supply extra copies of any deemed, suitable for our
special needs. Most will be gratis.
B) Retail Outlets
There are, currently, no retail outlets worthy of mention in Omatemala.
The average "librarian is a combination, book, stationery, and school sUPPlies
store, or carries a. few general books and a heavy stock of schooIbOoks. The
Publications Officer will periodically visit the few stores in town In order
to obtain aay significant publication that may appear, but most of the stock
is imported,. It is anticipated that he will find few, if any, books not
available in Mexico or Argentina, their usual sources of pUblication.
C) Bibliosraphic Aide
Other than the very limited list of the San Carlos University Press,
no bibliographic aids of any sort are known to exist in Guatemala. The
Publications Officer has been alerted to acquire and transmit any that ray
appear in the future.
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MEXICO
A) General Availability
One full week was devoted to briefing, surveying the availability
of,? and acquiring, publications in Mexico City, the capital, where, typical
of most Latin American countries, the overwhelming majority of Mexican
publioations are actually published and the remainder are generally avail-
able. Mexico is one of the major publications centers in Latin America, and
one finds here not only Mexican publications, but also those of several other
Latin American countries, as well as many US and European pdblications. Pre-
dominating are those of Mexico and the Argentine.
Communist publications, both locally produced and imported, are
widely available throughout the oity. Most general bookstores and kiosks
carry a fairly large and varied stock of Communist and Leftist but non-Communist
publications, as well as those of a more conservative hue. There are, in ad-
dition, about ten stores in the downtown area (where most of the bookstores
are located) which carry a significantly greater proportion of Communist and
pro-Communist material than do the other general stores. Soviet, Czech, GDR
and Chinese Communist publications make up the bulk of the imported material,
but also available are publications of the Argentine and Spanish Communists;
some (hilean, Frenoh and Italian materials of this type are also to be found;
and a growing quantity of Cuban anti-US and Communist-oriented periodicals are
available. The purely propaganda Chic= periodical, material is available here,
but non-propaganda Chicom publications later than the Fall of 1959 do not appear
to be on the general market.
Mexico produced many good political and economic publications, several
industrial and trade periodicals, and a small but useful quantity of basic
reference work*, of the "annuals" type. Several bookstores and publishers have
available, on an irregular basis, lists of currently available stocks, but good
bibliographic aids and references are quite scarce. Few, if any, publishers
or bookstores can be relied upon to send copies of their lists to either the
EMbassy Publications Officer or to Washington, making it imperative that the
Publications Officer or some other procurement official make frequent and
regular calls on these sources in order to keep abreast of the field.
)3) Retail Outlets
The following is a list of the more fruitful bookstores we visited.
It by no means represents anything approaching the total number of stereo in-
spected, and is indeed, only a small part of the total number of retail out-
lets in Mexico is,
*1) FORDO DE.LA CULTURA POPULAR
Ave Hidalgo 7,-107
(AEA: Editorial Popular). The Mexican Communist Party (PCM)
outlet; good stock of lobe.' Communist and pro-Communist,
Soviet, Chicom, etc materials; no problems on purchasing here;
stamiard Communist "classics" and local items such as Party
ffileg.rellAelkD*8i06 4:*0511664618-85-6
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2) LIBRERIA JUAREZ
Ave. Juarez 102
A branch of this store, called LIBRERIA ZAPLANA, is located
at Calle San Juan de Letran 41-H; good source of general
material; excellent source of local, Spanish, Argentine
Communist and pro-Communist material; also stocks anti-
Communist material in good proportion.
*3) LIBRESIA NAVARRO
Calle Seminario 12-B
Originally believed to have been set up by the Mexican
Communist Party, Enrique Navarro apparently has fallen out
with the Party but is believed to be an adherent of Lombardo-
Toledano's Partido Popular (PP); mostly old materiel but some
recent books; heavy on Communist and Communist sympathizer
material; has (same on shelves, most in private loft which he
is reluctant tO dhow customers) huge collection of Communist,
pro-Communist, and anarchist publications' going back some 30
years in both Latin America, Spain and elsewhere; has indicated
will.Ingness to sell this entire private collection to some
library or private collector.
LIBRERIA DE =SUL
Ave. Juarez; in park
across from Palacio de
Belles Artes. Almonds Central
Probably the best store for new books; an excellent general
store; large stock of both pro- and anti-Communist material;
good for general reference works; good stook of Argentine
and other publications, including translations of US and other
foreign, non-Spanish titles.
5) LIBRERIA CESAR CICERON
Calle del Seminario, 10
Good general store; good stock of pro- and anti-Communist
material; good general reference works; will mail books,
lists, etc. if requested.
6) LIBRERIA PORRUA HERMANOS
Esq. Argentina y Jumbo Sierra
(with branch at Ave. Juarez 16)
Good general stores; many law books in Juarez branch; publishes
a limited bibliographical reference work on an irregular schedule,
but gives impression not very reliable in mailing this.
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417) INSTITUT? INTERCAMBIO CULTURAL
MERICANO-RUSO (IIoat)
Paseo de is Reforms, 128
Bookstore of the Soviet-Mexican cultural and friendship
society; offers Communist "classics" (Marx, Lenin, etc.),
much cultural material, art work, pro-Soviet propaganda;
this is largely material published. by Foreign Languages
Publishing Nouse, Moscow and is generally available to us
from Moscow.
8) Kiosxs
Mexico City, especially the downtown area between the Ave.
Reforms and, the Zocalo, abounds with newstands carrying
newspapers and. magazines of all types and political coloration.
A sort of "Thieves Merkee operates on Sunday mornings in one
of the poorer districts and contains several tables of second-
hand publications, many of which are Communist and pro-
Communist.
? C) Bibliographic Aids
Bibliographic aids in Mexico are few and far between. Same of the
larger retail outlets and a very few publishers offer a, partial list of current
stocks (usually only latest releases) on a very irregular basis. These, how-
ever, cannot be considered true bibliographic publications and their receipt
is virtually entirely dependent on the Publications Officer making frequent and
regular calls on the store or publisher preparing such a list. One fairly
regular list is Boletin Bibliografico Mexicano published on a vaguely quarterly
basis by Porrua limos. (See Item 0, Section B, above). This list, which Porrua
has promised to send to the Embassy Publications Officer (and which the latter
has been alerted to solicit), is rather limited in scope and. does not give
truly national coverage.
A recent publication of the Centro Mexicana de Eftritores, entitled
Cataloso De Periodicos Mexicanos, is on hand in CIA. The publishers =prim-
the vague hope that this well-organized (but limited in scope) publication
will be periodically revised and. brought up to date. They make no commitment,
however, on the periodicity of such revisions, and past experience has shown
that the majority of such publications in Latin America die young and un-
announced; it remains to be seen if this reference will survive.
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PANAMA
A) General Availability
Panama, like Guatemala, is not a major source of publications.
Few, if any, books are printed here and locally produced periodicals have
been short-lived. Panama is, however, reparted to be a distributing center
for Soviet Bloc and Chicom publications and. for Chicom films. These do not
appear to be available on the open market, however, and it is unlikely that
the Publications Officer will be able to eupply such items.
B) Retail Outlets
Panama City and Colon have only a few bookstores, none of which
can, be considered of aignificant value at the present time. Some imported
Mexican and. Argentine books are available, as well as many US books and
other publications. It is felt, however, that the particularly active and
Interested Publications Officer recently aesigned here might utilize a small
annual selection fund of about 025.00 for the purchase of an occasional book
or new periodical and to backstop his procurement of government publications
where insufficient copies are available gratis.
C) Bibliographic Aids
No bibliographic aids are Imam to exist in Panama at this time.
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A) General Availability
Approximately five days were spent in Lima in briefing the
Publications Officer, surveying the local market and purchasing publications.
(Because of the intervening weekend only four days were actually available
for mark in the stores.) Lima, while not a publications center of the calibre
of Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Santiago, or Sao Paulo, a fact 'which appears in
part due to the high cost of paper and printing, is still a fairly active
center in terms of this activity. General stores stock a fairly good number
of boas by Peruvian authors and, while many are of a cultural nature, a
certain percentage are of the types useful to the Intelligence Community.
As elsewhere on the continent, Argentine books appear to predominate and here,
for the first time, Chilean publications begin to appear in some quantity.
Some political and economic periodicals are published here.
Most, if not all, bookstores in Lima carry a certain amount of
Communist and pro-Cbmmunist material, but no outlet was found that was
clearly a primary source of this material. The local Communist Party news-
paper, Unidad? is not available on subscription, appearing in the hands of.
street vendors only and at irregular intervals. Arrangements were made with
the Publications Officer to obtain this publication on a more regular basis
than heretofore, and copies have already begun arriving in ICD/FP under this
arrangement. Other than this newspaper, no local Communist Party publications
were encountered, but the customary Communist "classics" are available in most
stores.
B) Retail Outlets
As is common in most Latin American cities, the principal bookstores
are clustered in the central area of the city, principally within a two-block
radius of the Plaza San Martin (although a few are found further out). Some
20-25 stores and many kiosks were inspected. The following brief list contains
names and descriptions of the more noteworthy of these stores.
1) LIBRERIA JUAN NEJIA BACA
Azangaro 722
A good general store; law, basic reference works; some political
and economic marks both pro* and anti-Communist.
2) LIBRERIA "LA UNIVERSIDAD"
Nicolas Plerola 639
Perhaps the best general store in Lima; carries both pro- and
anti-Communist material (mostly anti-); heavy on local authors;
good selection of dictionaries.
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*3) =URAL DE LIBROS Y RETINAS
Jiron Camana 681
Cannot be called a Communist outlet in true sense, but had
more material than others; most Communist material were the
"classic's works; fair general store; had some Bloc propaganda
magazines of pictorial type (Soy, ODR? (lina).
4) mamas?
Belem 1083
A good general store.
C) Bibliogiraphic Aids
The Biblioteca Nacional (National Library) of Peru, located in Lima,
published an Anuario Bibliografico Peruano in 19,7 which covered the years
1951/52, and. a subsequent edftion Isnlyw which covered the years 1953/54.
We are informei that it is hoped. that subsequent editions will appear, but
that this is by no means certain or even very probable. Beyond this, one finds
only a very limited number of booklists put out by a few local stores. These
are irregular in their periodicity, and very limited in their scope. Copies
of the few available were obtained, and the Publications Officer vas requested
to forward any subsequent lists that become available.
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URUGUAY
k) General Availability
Four days were devoted to Montevideo. While a minor city as far as
entual publishing goes, Montevideo looms large in Latin America as one of
(if not the) major point-of-entry for Soviet and Bloc propaganda. Some Chicom
material was found, but only the usual propaganda publications carried 1960
6)i tes
Here, too, we found one of the best organized and well-stocked
(JATImunist Party stores in Spaniah-speaking Latin America, plus another ex-
cellent store Which "dealt almost exclusively with Soviet and other Bloc
luuntry publications.
While a relatively small city, Montevideo is liberally supplied with
Lcok.stores and newstand-kicsks. We covered about 18 stores and numerous kiosks
.3ome few Uruguayan publications, some Chilean and Spanish, many Argentinian,
a few Brazilian publications make up most of the available stock in Montevideo
etores aside from the imported Communist Material. No difficulty was encountered
t:e entering and purchasing from any Communist source in the city.
B) Retail Outlets
The following were among the rare fruitful outlets in Montevideo.
*1) EDICIONES PUEBLOS UNIDOS (EPU)
Colonia 1567
This is the local Party store; stock almost entirely Communist
material -- local Party items, much Soviet and other Bloc items,
fairly good Chicom stock (thru 1959); one of best Party stores
found. in Latin America.
2) ANTE?, Ltda.
18 de Julio, 1333
Another excellent source of Communist material; stock is primarily
Soviet, but also had some Chicom (thru 1959); also some few SOVBLGC
cultural items. No local Party material noted.
3) LIBRERIA BARREIRO y RAMOS
16 de Julio, 941
An excellent general store; good stock of dictionaries, law,
economics, recent political works; some few pro-Communist items,
many anti-Communist items; heavy on cultural material.
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*4) LIVRARIA LOBATO
San Jose 853
Stock is almost entirely Brazilian publications (in Portuguese);
fair, only; reported as Communist outlet, but not very such in
evidence uten inspected; a source of Brazilian books when one
cannot get to Brazil...only such source noted in Spanish-sPeaking
Latin America.
0) Bibliographic Aids
In an area generally poor in bibliographic material, Montevideo is
exceptional.ly poor. The Muerte Bibliografiao Uruguay?, previously published
by the Biblioteca Nacionar(i-07re seen by us was 1949 issue, published in
1951), is a dead issue; the librarian at the Biblioteca even had troUble re-
calling that they had ever published it, and was most emphatic that there were
no plans to revive it. Few catalogs or lists of current offerings were found
In the various bookstores. EPU (above) had a somewhat dated list of publications
offered, in 19,9, by Foreign Language Press of Fekin, but no lists of Soviet
or Other Bloc offerings. This city must be covered by physical canvass of the
stores.. .there is no alternative whatsoever.
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VBNEZUELA
A) General Availability
Due to the unfortunate conjunction of Holy Thursday, Good. Friday,
and. a civil holiday which occured on the following Tuesday, we were able
to get only one working day in the stores in Caracas, as business shuts down
tight for the full week. Nevertheless, ve were able to cover the main Party
outlet and a few general. stores, and to get some valid idea of availability
in Caracas.
While not a major publishing center (the recent political upheavals
and the serious problem of inflation make costs prohibitive and profits un-
certain), Caracas does have a small publishing industry, and there are hopes
for expansion in the not-too-far-distant future. In addition to the few local
publications, Caracas appears to be a good source for imported Communist
material (one of Latin America's three best Party stores is located here)
from the Soviet Bloc and Ccamunist Chios, and it appears that an increasing
amount of Ctameniet-slanted, anti-US, pro.(astro material is being shipped
in from Cuba. Much of this latter material, at the moment, consists of Prensa
Latina press releases and the Cuban publications such as "Bohemia," "Carteles,"
and one or two others.
The local Party store is well-stmkedwith Soviet Communist material,
local Party publications, and same Chicom material (but here, again no Chicom
other than the cultural propaganda items is to be found with datee :after
December 1959). The clerk in the local Partystore states that they have orders
for a large amount ath variety of 1.960 Chicom publications, but that "there
appears to be some sort of delay" in getting them; he did not know why this
should be so, and hoped for delivery soon.
B) Retail Outlets
There are a fairly large number of bookstores and kiosks inCaracas
many of which carry some Cbmmunist material, and often anti-Communist material
as well. The more fruitful of these outlets we visited are:
1) DISTRIBUIDORA MAGRIJA
Edificio Eduardo Garcia,
Local #1
One of the three best-stocked Communist Party stores on the
continent. Heavy (Ito& of current Soviet publications, some
Chicon (up to December 1959), and some local Party material;
also carries some anti-US Carbroosterial; stocked the only
Spanish-Chinese dictionary found. in Latin America (FLP, Pekin).
No difficulty purehasing here; store villing to order special
items from China or USSR for any customer. Has catalog (copies
obtained).
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21
*2) LIBRERIA CRUZ DEL SUR
Centro Comercial del Fate,
Local #11, Sabana Grande.
Fairly good general store; some Soviet classics (Marx, Engels,
etc.), but not really a Communist outlet judging fro,a his stock.
C)...abliographic Aids
Due to the shortage of available working time, it was not possible
to check on the availability of the Anuario Bibliografico Venezolano of the
Bibliotecm Efteional (last seen in its 1947/48 edition and believed defunct),
the Roletiu:8424,19.2 of the Banco Central (also believed defunct), or
the Boletin-iZZ is. Academia de Ciencias Politicas. The Publications Officer
was requested to look into the matter, but his off-the-cuff opinion was that
all three publications had ceased publication.
PAGRIJA (#1, above) offers a catalog at irregular intervals, and
copies or the most recent were obtained. Aside from this, there appear to
be no bibliographic aids available in Venezuela; other outlets had no catalogs
or lists to offer. Here, too, a periodic physical canvass of the stores is
essential.
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TAB B
0069A000100090003-6
25X1A
This tab contains personal evaluations
of the Publications Officers and their performance of their functions in
this field at the posts which visited on this
trip. 25X1A
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