Partimos da noção de estrutura social, cuja conceituação já propuzemos, noutra oportunidade, nos seguintes têrmos: quando falamos em es- ‘ trutura social referímo-nos a urna sociedade encarada do ãngulo das relagóes dos homens entre sí e dos homens com as coisas materiais que o cercam; relações interdependentes e geradas históricamente na atividade social de produzir e reproduzir as condições essenciais de sobrevivencia do grupo. Dêsse modo, tôda estrutura social contém, no mínimo, essas tres partes, que lhe são inseparáveis: por base, urna forma histórica de produção; por corpo, um sistema de estratificação social; por cúpula, um conjunto de instituigóes e de valôres sociais — cujo escôpo é sancionar e manter, como um todo, o sistema estreitamente interdependente formado por essas partes.

Brazil, during the past thirty years, has undergone extensive social and economic change, amounting to a Brazilian “Industrial Revolution”. It is always somewhat arbitrary to assign dates to broad historical events, but, if establishment of a starting point for the Industrial Revolution would aid in its understanding, the best date is probably 1930. In the economic field, it is true, World War One represented a first step; in the cultural field, the Week of Modern Art (1922 in Sao Paulo) was the first significant manifestation of a really Brazilian culture. But in both cultural and economic fields, and especially in the political field, the Revolution of 1930 (when Getúlio Vargas came to power), and the world depression beginning in 1929, are the most important events. The phase that many sociologists, economists, and historians call either the National Revolution or the Industrial Revolution, the stage that W. W. Rostow prefers to call the take-off period, began at that time in Brazil.

Aunque las conexiones marítimas de los países latinoamericanos del Pacífico con los Estados Unidos sólo se intensifican desde comienzos del siglo XIX, dando lugar a las obras de Amasa Delano, David Porter y Samuel B. Johnston, no pueden soslayarse los comienzos de esas relaciones, cuanto más remotas más débiles en los albores del siglo XVIII.

President Kennedy, in his inaugural address, spoke of an “Alliance for Progress” with Latin America and more recently of an expanded Latin-American aid program. His phrase “Alliance for Progress” underscores the fact that the U. S. chooses not to be identified with blind defenders of the status quo but to support evolutionary change calling for political, social, and economic reform.

What motivates U. S. citizens to tax themselves to help the underdeveloped countries help themselves? One observes an interesting mixture of goals with respect to U. S. aid programs. There is no single enforced purpose handed down from higher authority. Each citizen indicates and advances his own preferences with some sort of compromise or majority view prevailing when necessary. One peculiarity of a democratic society is the pluralism of motivations and purposes.

The urban labor force in the capital of Guatemala holds a potential strength out of proportion to its numbers. The power of the urban labor force stems from the fact that (1) though a minority of the total population of the republic, it forms a numerical majority in Guatemala City where national decisions are made; (2) it is a compact group which can be more readily and efficiently organized than the sprawling agrarian labor force; and (3) once organized, it is an available and effective political force. Party dialectic aside, these factors are sufficient to make urban labor an attractive instrument for international Communist propaganda and infiltration.

Prevalece no momento a opinião, conforme a qual essa região se encontraría em pleno processo de “revolução social”, sem quaisquer precedentes nesse sentido no passado, mesmo recente.

Quer nos parecer, realmente, muito acertada tal interpretação dos fenômenos de dinamismo social como principal característica do cenário turbulento, em 1961, dessa região tôda: 20 países com mais de 205 milhóes de habitantes.

Depois de sair de longo período de estagnação pós-colonial, essa parte do Hemisferio Ocidental — primeira grande região do “mundo subdesenvolvido em vésperas de se incorporar plenamente ao ciclo de civilização material adiantada — entrou, no período de após guerra, numa fase de alteracóes bruscas e febris que, simultáneamente, abrangem a sua estrutura política, as suas bases económicas, os seus fundamentos populacionais, mas, sobretudo, o seu panorama social.

The United States of 1783 was composed of thirteen former English colonies and their hinterland extending to the Mississippi River. Except on the Atlantic side, the new republic was surrounded by European possessions. In fact, the remainder of the New World was claimed by European nations. It was inevitable, therefore, that the United States from the beginning would concern itself with these European possessions.

The degree of concern has been determined largely by three factors: (1) the geographic location of the areas, (2) their economic and strategic value, and (3) the relative power and prestige of their current or prospective possessors. As regards the geographic location of the areas, the interest of the United States has expanded roughly in broad concentric arcs: (a) contiguous continental lands (Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, Oregon Territory); (b) Alaska, Central America, and the Caribbean; (c) South America and off-shore islands; and (d) the Antarctic. This expansion of interest has been concomitant with the territorial and economic growth of the United States, the development of ever-more-rapid means of transportation and communication, and the changing concepts of national defense.