An Interview with Professor Erick Langer

By Jack Biemer

Erick Langer is a history professor from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He teaches courses on Latin American History. He is the author, co-author, or editor of eight books and author or co-author of more than 50 articles and book chapters. GJOH Blog Contributor Jack Biemer sat down with Dr. Langer to discuss his research, his background, and his love of music. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about your background. How did you become interested in Latin America and decide to study it?

That can be a very long answer. I became interested in Latin America because I wanted to go to Germany. My mom died at eight, my mom and my dad were both born in Germany. He sent myself, my twin brother, and my older brother to Germany with my uncle. My dad went back there and remarried. I then went back to America after five years in Germany and many years later I applied for foreign exchange program in high school through the rotary club. I applied to go to France as my number 1, Sweden as my number 2, and Spain as my number 3 options. My high school told me that only 60% of the people chosen by the rotary club would actually leave and that I should not say no to anything because that would tell them that I was not open to new experiences and therefore would not be accepted. I got through to the second round. Then I met with the lady who ran the program who said that those were all full. The woman asked, “Would you like to go to a Spanish speaking country?” Since I was told that I could not say no, I of course said yes. She said, “Alright, we’ll send you to Sucre, Bolivia.” I shook her hand and then went home to look up where Sucre Bolivia is on a map. 

I went to Bolivia from September 72 to August 73 and I loved it. In fact, the last two months of being there, I borrowed a backpack and a sleeping bag and got through most of South America. I went to see Chile right before Allende was overthrown. I went to Argentina the day before Peron arrived and almost went to see him at the airport, but I decided not to, instead visiting some friends in Argentina. In the end, it was good that I chose not to see him because at the airport on that day, many of Peron’s supporters gathered at the airport to welcome him. At the airport, there was the Ezeiza Massacre where fighting broke out between left and right wing supporters of Peron and I could have been killed if I was there. Then I got to Peru and later Ecuador. On my travels, I used many forms of transportation: travelling both by airplane and over land, sometimes by train and on foot, but mostly by taxi and on trucks. Finally, I went over land to Medellin and Bogota, which you could do then although later the guerrillas would make that impossible. 

And that experience of travelling through Bolivia and Latin Americas on my own really changed my life. First of all, I had just turned eighteen so I was travelling with very little money and possessions. And I figured out every place I went where to stay, I had adventures, lots of them, and I was able to make do with very little money. I realized as a teen that I could handle myself in very difficult situations. That kind of made me appreciate Latin America. I learned to speak Spanish fluently since at that point I could still learn languages fluently. I owe the Rotary Club my career in many ways. 

What research are you currently working on at Georgetown and how does it tie into your past work?

I am working on a number of projects. One is compiling the writings and diary of Francis Burnett O’Connor into a book, coming out next month. I have written an introductory study for the book in Spanish and the diary itself will be published in the original Spanish.The O’Connor Diaries are one of few diaries that exist in 19th century Latin America and that is an important primary resource. The book will be 1200 pages long and therefore be published in two volumes. I worked with a Bolivian co-editor and the Georgetown Irish Studies program gave us funding. This was very generous.

 Erika Wisby and I are going to publish an article on how 19th century post offices worked in Latin America, which is based on information from O’Connor’s diaries, and, unlike most studies so far, will show the consumer's point of view. Surprisingly, the Bolivian postal system actually worked very well given the transportation of the time. Most of the mail was transported by Indians on foot; this was one of the tribute obligations that they had to the state. Also, I am working on an article about inflation in central South America, co-authored with three former students of the Georgetown Latin America masters program. I have a sabbatical coming up and I am going to finish a book about frontiers in Bolivia. 

You’ve mentioned visits to the Andes in class often. Are there any stories that you would like to share about those experiences?

In the city of Poopó, which is about 1300 feet high and holds only about 2000 people, there are these judicial archives which is one of the best places to understand indigenous history and indigenous studies. I went there once and decided to go again for this project I was working on. When I got there, the judge gave me the keys to the building, which had no electricity, meaning that I had to only work during the day. In addition, the town of Poopó did not have any warm water, so I went to take thermal baths instead. The mineral-rich water dried out my fingers and made my skin crack. On top of all that, I ended up having to go to the hospital on my return because I contracted pneumonia. I was at the archive for a month because there were so many good sources there, but after that experience I never went back to the town again. 

In the last few years, I was working on another project; which was looking at Bolivian land grants that were meant to take land from indigenous peoples on the frontier and give the land to white colonial settlers. I figured out that some of the indigenous peoples hired lawyers and obtained records of their possession of their lands. Now, for a centennial lab in the school for foreign service, I am holding a course with undergraduate students to go down to Bolivia, recoup and copy those documents, and give those land records to the indigenous people there as well as a presentation on the documents to inform them about their land rights. This will serve to help them gain more royalties from oil and gas companies that operate in the area because they can prove that they are the actual owners of that land to the Bolivian government. The course will be held in the spring of 2027.

Following up on that, what do you think is the one thing or the biggest factor that makes the Andes unique?

I think that the way that the natives have conceived space, in the sense that, since the Andes are in the tropics and there are different altitudes, people are able to go from cold to hot areas in just a few hours. When you go to the Andes, I think that you can feel that it is clearly a different civilization. 

One of my favorite things is the blue skies when you go up into the high mountains. The different colors are amazing, for example, Camargo in the Cinti Valley has the beautiful blue skies, the red of the mountains, and the green of the vineyards, is truly amazing. 

Obviously, the best thing by far are the people. I have more friends in Bolivia than anywhere else. The great thing about Bolivians is that even if you haven’t seen them for a year or a decade, you’re still as good of a friend as you were before. 

Throughout your career, you’ve also mentioned meeting many Andean politicians, scholars, and business leaders. Is there one story or individual that stands out to you and why?

I actually had a very recent story that has been in the news lately. Last summer in Bolivia, my wife and I got to meet former President of Bolivia Jaime Paz at his home. He asked me to do him a favor. He was on a state visit to Washington in 1990 and had presented President George H.W.  Bush with a cross that was a family heirloom. President Bush was reluctant to accept it, but eventually agreed to accept it on one condition. Bush said that if one of Paz’s sons also becomes president, then he would then give it back. 

At that time, Jaime Paz’s son Rodrigo was running for president of Bolivia. Jaime Paz told me that he had lost the letter that Bush had given where he promised to return the cross. When I returned to Georgetown, I inquired about the letter and was able to get it from the Bush Presidential Library and sent the copy of the letter to Jaime Paz immediately. 

Rodrigo Paz was able to win the election and with the information I provided was able to get back the cross.  The last time Rodrigo Paz was in DC,  His father was incredibly happy to hear that and sent me a video to thank me.  

Something else that you often touch on in class is your love of music and concerts. Who is your favorite band and what is the greatest concert you’ve ever been to?

Probably my favorite album of all time is JJ Cale’s first album, Naturally. He composed a lot of songs that Eric Clapton covered later, such as Cocaine and After Midnight. “Magnolia” is my favorite song on this album. Imagine listening to that song while drinking a cocktail on the porch on a warm summer night watching the sun go down.

Probably, the most consequential concert I went to was the Led Zeppelin concert in Seattle. When the band was finished with their set, they couldn’t turn  the lights turn back on, so the band played another short set. They played some ones that weren’t really in their catalogue like Money, that’s what I want by the Beatles. What was great about that performance, was when they played that song people started throwing coins up on the stage.  In fact, I think that they made a bootleg album of that concert.

Is there an author whose work that you recommend to getting to know the Andes? Why?

Of the many authors I could recommend, I think Tristan Platt is the most brilliant. But probably the best read is Pilgrims of the Andes by Michael J. Sallnow, who was an anthropologist who worked on religiosity in the Cuzco area. In his book, he showed that Christian pilgrimage sites were actually the sites where Andean gods were located and at these sites, the gods were often worshipped in traditional Andean ways. 

What advice would you give to Georgetown undergraduates studying history?

Well, first of all, it's hard to go wrong with any professor in the history department. I think it’s clear that all the professors here care about students and the professors also do amazing research. In my opinion, anyone who wants to study history should study that discipline.

It doesn’t really matter which major you choose because what matters is your Georgetown pedigree. It shows that you know how to work hard and it will allow you to get many more jobs than you think.

In the end, getting an undergraduate degree is about exploring as many subjects as possible. It’s good to take classes in other subjects such as the sciences or business because all of them will be helpful to you in ways you can’t imagine in the future. Don’t just stick to your discipline, branch out. Go and explore, that’s the duty of an undergraduate student at Georgetown where you have all of these intellectual opportunities. All of the rest will come together.