Central America

Abstract

An Excellent example of the deceptiveness of designations which, like “Latin America,” group under a single name diverse and even mutually hostile regions as though they constituted a unit, is the title of this article. An evidence of the false impression created by the phrase “Central America” is the question not infrequently asked: “Why do not the Central American republics form a federation?” They are close to one another and are so much alike that they ought naturally to combine into a union, as the thirteen British colonies of North America combined.” To ask that question is to betray that one has been misled by name. Though the republics of Central America are close to one another on the map they are not “much alike.” Quite to the reverse. They differ in climate, in soil, in racial composition, in tradition. They are so far from being much alike that every time they have formed a union (and they have tried more than once) the effort has ultimately failed and has usually been followed by wars among themselves which though on a scale comparatively small have been marked by extreme bitterness and ferocity. And though the dream of federation continues to float before the imaginations of some Central Americans there is no indication that the immediate future will behold it transmuted into a reality.