Abstract

SANCHEZ ANGEL, Ricardo. The Wrath of Sugar: the 1976 Riopaila Sugar Mill Strike. hist.crit. [online]. 2008, n.35, pp.34-57. ISSN 0121-1617.

This article broadly outlines the development of the sugar industry, the concentration of property and the technological changes that accompanied it, and the process of proletarianization that subsumed the immense majority of the industry"s workforce. It highlights the labor struggles that occurred at different moments, with particular focus on the 1959 and 1975-76 strikes centered in the Riopaila sugar mill. These strikes were some of the country"s most important labor and social conflicts due to the importance of the sugar industry and the Valle del Cauca in the national economy, the strength of the agricultural workers and their organizations, the solidarity of working class and popular groups, the political repercussions, the legal controversies stemming from the conflict, and the international context of the period.

Keywords : Agricultural proletariat; Valle del Cauca; sugar mills; strikes; women; Afro-Colombians.

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