''Bandera Roja'' ('Red Flag') was a weekly labour newspaper published from
La Paz
La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bo ...
,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, between 1926 and 1927. In total 52 issues of the newspapers were published, a record for Bolivian labour publications of the era.
Early period
Felipe Reque Lozano was the director and administrator of the newspaper.
[Lora, Guillermo, Laurence Whitehead, and Christine Whitehead. ]
A History of the Bolivian Labour Movement, 1848-1971.
' Cambridge tc. Cambridge University Press, 1977. pp. 141-144 Reque Lozano also owned the printing press used for printing ''Bandera Roja''.
The first issue of ''Bandera Roja'' appeared on June 8, 1926. It was linked to different
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...
s. Along with Reque Lozano the newspaper was run by a group of intellectuals during its early phase. The people behind ''Bandera Roja'' included
Óscar Cerruto
Óscar Cerruto (13 June 1912 – 10 April 1981) was a Bolivian poet, novelist, short story writer, journalist and diplomat.
Biography
Cerruto was born in the city of La Paz in 1912. He wrote ''Barrage of Fire'', named one of the greatest novel ...
, Rafael A. Reyeros, Carlos Mendoza Mamani (a tailor, leader of the ''Federación Obrera del Trabajo'' union) and Julio M. Ordoñez.
Editorial line
Seeking to reach the working class, the writers of the newspaper adopted vulgar and simplified discourses.
It often used attention-grabbing graphics.
''Bandera Roja'' promoted the
8-hour working day and university autonomy. The publication was vehemently anti-clerical.
It also promoted rights for the indigenous population.
Whilst some of the material in ''Bandera Roja'' had an anarchist tint, ''Bandera Roja'' was the first Bolivian publication that identified itself with the
Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...
.
Some of the articles from ''Bandera Roja'' were reproduced in the Latin American organ of the Communist International, ''La Correspondencia Sudamericana''.
[John, Steven Sándor. ]
Permanent Revolution on the Altiplano: Bolivian Trotskyism, 1928-2005
'. Thesis (Ph. D.) -- City University of New York, 2006. p. 34 Whilst not an organ for any party, the newspaper wrote about electoral campaigns of '
comrade
The term ''comrade'' (russian: товарищ, tovarisch) generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, term , literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin , meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. It may al ...
s' running for local offices.
Uncia miners' massacre
In July 1926 ''Bandera Roja'' denounced a massacre of mine workers in
Uncia. In response the government launched a crack-down against ''Bandera Roja''. Its office was stormed. Two editors (Ordoñez and Reyeros) were arrested, whilst Reque Lozano, Mendoza Mamani and Cerruto went underground. The crack-down on ''Bandera Roja'' was criticized sharply in the mainstream press.
FOT organ
Towards the end of 1926 ''Bandera Roja'' shifted course. Reque sought to make the newspaper an organ of the trade union movement and a committee, which included FOT and other unions, was formed to support ''Bandera Roja''. This move led to a break with the intellectuals. A new editorial team was formed after the split, which included Guillermo Gamarra (president of the Uncia Workers Federation).
The newspaper became an organ of FOT.
Closure
In 1927 ''Bandera Roja'' dismissed government claims of a communist plot to seize power (which supposedly would have involved unions and the Labour Party). The newspaper was closed down by the government soon afterwards.
[John, Steven Sándor. ]
Permanent Revolution on the Altiplano: Bolivian Trotskyism, 1928-2005
'. Thesis (Ph. D.) -- City University of New York, 2006. p. 62
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandera Roja
1926 establishments in Bolivia
1927 disestablishments in Bolivia
Defunct newspapers published in Bolivia
Defunct weekly newspapers
Mass media in La Paz
Newspapers established in 1926
Publications disestablished in 1927
Socialist newspapers
Spanish-language newspapers