A LATIN AMERICAN SPEAKS

There has been so much about Latin America written by North Americans that it makes an interesting contrast to have a Latin American, counsellor of the Mexican Embassy in Washington (and professor of political science at George Washington University) write from the other angle in an attempt to clear up misunderstandings on both sides. In the first third of the book, he deals with Latin America and the United States separately, pointing out likenesses which should bring about closer affiliation. There is one amusing section in which he presents verbatim the popular conception of the North American in the mind of the Latin American, and vice versa. He does not hesitate to criticize strongly many social evils in both parts of the hemisphere, but he claims that the main thing which unites the two is love of democracy. The second part discusses the differences, from what he feels is the one-sided, inefficient and outmoded Monroe Doctrine, through the development of Pan Americanism. He points out the main difficulty in economic autocracy and exploitation by North American capital. The last section hopefully points to a trend towards the Bolivar ideals and a hemisphere for democracy versus fascism. Well-constructed, informative, but weakened by a tendency towards emotional dramatics, which throws doubt on its objectivity. And at times, he seems a bit vague and unrealistic. Nonetheless, a valuable book.