Латыши в Южной Америке в 1945—1991 гг. и их национально-политическая деятельность

The idea of Latvian state independence was kept alive by Latvians who left their motherland and settled all over the world after Latvia had been incorporated in the USSR. Latvians in South America overall shared the key points of the beliefs and identity characteristic to the whole Latvian diaspora (largest groups living in USA, Australia, Canada etc.), namely, the conviction that Latvian state still formally existed and they themselves were in political exile against their will. These convictions formed a substantial part of common identity of Latvian diaspora and were manifested through diverse national-political activities to promote the restoration of the Latvian state independence. The study of sources shows that under the specific political and geographical circumstances of the region of South America, the Latvian diaspora developed a particular and specific attitude towards preservation of the idea of Latvian state independence. Correspondingly, their actions to promote this aim in detail also differed from similar activities in countries like USA. Still, the seemingly far-away South American Latvians shared common values and goals with the rest of Latvians, namely, the goal to sustain the idea of independence and to promote the restoration of Latvian state independence. The South American Latvians intensively participated in activities of supporting and promoting the idea of Latvian independence on this continent; they also took part in the general activities of the Latvian exile, as well as in activities togetherwith Lithuanians and Estonians, who shared the same goals regarding recovery of their independent states. The national-political and public activity of the South American Latvians continued from the middle of 1954 until the restoration of the Baltic States in 1991. Because of the financial difficulties and of the specific policy of the authorities of the South American states, the Latvian diaspora’s activities took place with varying degrees of intensity. Especially active were the first decade after the war and the period from the middle of the 1970s up to the time of Atmoda (awakening) ending with the restoration of Latvian state independence.