Search Help

How does this work?
There are many ways to search the collections of the Freedom Archives. Below is a brief guide that will help you conduct effective searches. Note, anytime you search for anything in the Freedom Archives, the first results that appear will be our digitized items. Information for items that have yet to be scanned or yet to be digitized can still be viewed, but only by clicking on the show link that will display the hidden (non-digitized) items. If you are interested in accessing these non-digitized materials, please email info@freedomarchives.org.
Exploring the Collections without the Search Bar
Under the heading Browse By Collection, you’ll notice most of the Freedom Archives’ major collections. These collections have an image as well as a short description of what you’ll find in that collection. Click on that image to instantly explore that specific collection.
Basic Searching
You can always type what you’re looking for into the search bar. Certain searches may generate hundreds of results, so sometimes it will help to use quotation marks to help narrow down your results. For instance, searching for the phrase Black Liberation will generate all of our holdings that contain the words Black and Liberation, while searching for “Black Liberation” (in quotation marks) will only generate our records that have those two words next to each other.
Advanced Searching
The Freedom Archives search site also understands Boolean search logic. Click on this link for a brief tutorial on how to use Boolean search logic. Our search function also understands “fuzzy searches.” Fuzzy searches utilize the (*) and will find matches even when users misspell words or enter in only partial words for the search. For example, searching for liber* will produce results for liberation/liberate/liberates/etc.
Keyword Searches
You’ll notice that under the heading KEYWORDS, there are a number of words, phrases or names that describe content. Sometimes these are also called “tags.” Clicking on these words is essentially the same as conducting a basic search.

Chuy Varela Collection

This collection takes its name from Jesse “Chuy” Varela, a Bay Area radio host who frequently interviewed political, activist, and labor figures connected to issues affecting Latin and Central American communities. Topics includes immigration to the US, the 1994 NAFTA treaty, labor issues such as the activism of Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, and the UFW, and related political developments affecting the region (1994 Mexican election, CA Prop 187, Sandinistas, Zapatistas, (EZLN) etc.) and others.

Documents

Colombian Flower Workers Colombian Flower Workers
Date: 4/15/1993Call Number: CV 095AFormat: Cass AProducers: Chuy VarelaProgram: Noticiero LatinoCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Silbina Torres, a Colombian flower worker, talks about the unsafe working conditions and poverty-level income in the flower industry.
Nelson Fajardo - Colombia Nelson Fajardo - Colombia
Call Number: CV 181AFormat: Cass AProducers: Chuy VarelaCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
About human rights abuses in Colombia funded by the US war on drugs and counterinsurgency programs. Right wing paramilitary groups are also discussed. Interview in Spanish.
Special on US Role in Colombia Special on US Role in Colombia
Date: 3/18/1993Call Number: CV 182AFormat: Cass AProducers: Mario MurilloCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Mario Murillo discusses the violence after the "state of internal emergency" was announced in Colombia in late 1992. He interviews Colombian and US politicians and military spokespeople about the increase of US military bases for the ostensible purpose of training and supporting the Colombian effort in the 'War on Drugs.' The US military presence is challenged. Side B is audio of Mexican comedian Cantinflas.
Pedro Alcantara Pedro Alcantara
Date: 9/24/1989Call Number: CV 210Format: Cass A & BCollection: Chuy Varela Collection
Pedro Alcantara of the Patriotic Union political party speaks about the unstable political situation in Colombia. He addresses large-scale violence to organized labor, massacres by drug cartels, government military, and right-wing paramilitary groups. Also the penetration of drug cartels to the elite and how the instability and corruption at the national level allies with US intervention.