Historical Primary Sources: Latin America

The following lists US State Department records from the National Archives holdings in Washington, DC currently held in the Main and Bancroft Libraries on microfilm (and in a few rare cases, in print), available online, or available on loan from the Center for Research Libraries (CRL). Where available, the call number and location of guides have been listed together with the call number for the microfilm or a link to an online guide is available. This list is not comprehensive; if you do not see the item you need you should check UC Library Search or the CRL catalog. Use the Interlibrary Loan form to request a loan from CRL.

The State Department had different record-keeping systems between 1789-1906, 1906-1910, 1910-1963, 1963-1973, and 1973-1979. In its organization of the files it received, the National Archives maintained the original divisions of years: 1789-1906, 1906-10, 1910-29, 1930-39, 1940-44, 1945-49, 1950-54, 1955-59, 1960-63, 1963-73, 1973-79. The microfilm publications of the records reflect these periodic divisions and the original arrangement of the records. Some of the records from 1973-1979 are accessible online at the NARA site. Central file records dating 1980 and later remain in the custody of the Department of State.

See U.S. Foreign Relations and the Department of State for more information about the records.

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Central America

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraquay and Uruguay

Peru

Puerto Rico

South America

Uruguay (see Paraguay)

Venezuela

Virgin Islands

MIscellaneous

According to the UK National Archives, starting in the late 1820s, "correspondence of particular significance began to be printed in several copies and distributed to officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, to other departments and to British missions abroad. These copies were known as confidential print. By 1906 nearly every important despatch or telegram was printed routinely. These documents are a good way to gain a summary overview of Foreign Office political correspondence before accessing the extensive holdings in the main general correspondence series described [on their site]. Confidential prints vary from a single document to a substantial volume of papers, and are numbered individually, roughly in order of printing. For further information, and to see lists of confidential prints on particular regions and subjects, please go to the FO series division within our catalogue. Confidential prints ceased to be produced in the 1970s with the arrival of photocopying."

Confidential Print: Latin America includes the following file classes from the UK National Archives, Kew, in their entirety:

• FO 497/1-10 (South America, 1947-1956)
• FO 467/1-5 (Brazil, 1947-1951)
• FO 486/1-10 (Mexico, 1947-1956)
• FO 533/1-11 (Central America and Caribbean, 1947-1957)
• FO 420/1-294 (Central and South America, 1833-1941)
• FO 495/1-10 (River Plate countries (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), 1947-1956)

The resource also includes the following selected files:

• FO 118/276, 281, 287, 292, 305, 317, 331 (Argentina, 1906-1913)
• FO 177/297 (Chilean Revolution, 1891)
• FO 508/8 (South and Central America, 1908-1909)
• FO 461/14-22 (Americas general, 1958-1969)

Confidential Print: North America includes:

• CO 884/1-38, covering the years 1826-1961 and focusing on the Caribbean. Topics such as slavery and apprenticeship, trade, economy, agriculture, boundary disputes, the Morant Bay rebellion, troops, military expenditure, indentured labor, health and disease, finance, and communication are covered.
• FO 461/1-13 covers both North America and Sourth America over the time period 1942-1956.

Additional British documents in print:

Thomas, Hugh, and Robert L. Jarman, eds. Cuba before Castro: British Annual Reports 1898-1958. British Archives on Cuba. London: Archival Publications International, 2005.

Priestland, Jane, and Great Britain, eds. British Archives on the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962. London: Archival Publications International, 2001.