Some Fundamental Misconceptions Concerning South America

Abstract

The awakening interest in South American affairs has served to make prominent the confusion of the public mind on certain fundamental questions relating to the present situation and the probable future of political and social institutions in this quarter of the globe. This confusion is due, in large part, to the widely divergent opinions of writers on South America. At first this conflict of views was received with a certain amused indifference, it being assumed that this unknown land, so rich in adventure, was rapidly becoming the theatre of the modern romantic novel, displacing to a certain extent the battlements and towers of mediaeval Europe. During the last few years, however, the attitude of the public toward South America has undergone a profound change. We are no longer satisfied with the swashbuckler descriptions of revolutions and other armed conflicts but are demanding unvarnished statements of the actual situation. There is a real national interest that this demand be satisfied, for it is evident that the time is rapidly approaching, if indeed it is not already at hand, when the people of the United States must be prepared to express themselves clearly and unequivocally on certain, fundamental questions affecting their relation with the peoples of Latin America.