Hay un lugar histórico en la obra del Padre Bernabé Cobo, que no ha podido ser ignorado de los investigadores de nuestro pasado social. Dice así refiriéndose al Pueblo de Santiago del Cercado, barrio de Lima, erigido como reducción para el doctrinamiento y la protección de los indios tributarios, mitayos y yanacones que acudían a ella:

It is hardly necessary to assert that the armed forces have been important factors in the historical development of the nations of Latin America. By bringing into association men from all parts of the national territory, by posing as the incarnation of the national spirit, and by teaching patriotism and exalting national virtues, they have been a significant influence in overcoming regionalism and localism. By providing an avenue for advancement for members of lower social strata, they have encouraged social mobility. In many countries they have contributed to the transition from traditional to modern societies through their work in constructing communications systems, their emphasis on general and technical education within their ranks, and by their demands for industrialization.

The role of the Colombian military in politics is a recent development in that republic's history. It is also basically ephemeral, with few historical or traditional antecedents, such as those, for example, of Mexico or Venezuela.

Most of the successful battles which freed Colombia from Spanish domination were fought by non-Colombian armies led by Venezuelans. The end of the independence period (1830), found Colombia throwing off a Venezuelan army officers’ government (that of General Rafael Urdaneta) imposed by force, and destined to be short-lived because it violated the unwritten Colombian constitution, as well as its written charter.

The population of the 20 Latin American Republics has jumped from approximately 132 million in 1945 to an estimated 196 million in 1960. This is an over-all increase of 48.7 per cent, or an average increase of 3.3 per cent a year. By way of comparison, the United States has had an over-all population increase of 25.8 per cent or 1.72 per cent per year during the same 15-year period.

Since his death in 1949, the prestige of the eminent Mexican painter José Clemente Orozco has continued to grow as his artistic stature becomes more measurable. For this reason, if for no other, the early formative years of his career when the stylistic foundations of maturity were laid demand now more than ever careful scrutiny and evaluation. Among the early works of this artist none, in our opinion, is of greater interest and few are of higher quality than a collection of water colors known to students of Orozco as the House of Tears. In spite of their importance, however, these pictures have received only casual treatment from most writers. This essay embodies the earnest hope that our analysis of certain problems involved in the sources and style of House of Tears may at least kindle broader interest in the series as a whole.

If the happenings in twentieth-century Mexican art could be translated into musical notation, the score would resemble a movement of a symphony with two major themes. The original theme, that of a Revolutionary art for the masses, was stated loudly and boldly at the opening of the movement. Slowly a counter-theme, that of a conservative art for the middle-class, began to emerge. The strains of the second theme have been especially perceptible since 1940; the two melodies have woven together in a counterpoint pattern for twenty years. Gradually, the conservative theme is becoming predominant over the everweakening notes of the radical one.

Elihu Root has sometimes been referred to as a U.S. Secretary of State who specialized in Latin-American affairs. It is difficult to determine whether this specialized interest was Root's personal choice or was forced upon him by the growing complexity of inter-American affairs during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. One need not make a choice as to the major source of Root's interest in Latin America, for his policy reflects a combination of personal interest and circumstance. The most notable illustration of this combination occurred in 1906.

Much has been heard in the postwar years about “Hemispheric Solidarity.” In popular belief, this concept not only has concerned matters of security for the Western Hemisphere but frequently has been extended to cover practically all of the international relations of the American states. Particularly, there has been the widespread assumption that the Latin-American states form a bloc in the United Nations — and, incidentally, a bloc of twenty votes in the pocket of the United States.

The per capita availability of fisheries products in El Salvador is about 3.3 pounds per annum. The level, while low, is not out of the ordinary for tropical America. Seafood in particular, but animal protein in all forms, is little consumed by the great bulk of the population. It is the better endowed economic classes and the fishermen who account for most of the consumption of fisheries products. Other groups, chiefly urban, regard fish and crustaceans as luxuries, ordering or serving them mainly during religious and other festive occasions.