In conclusion, a word can be added of personal appreciation of our sister republics which I believe will be shared by all those who read this book and later visit Latin America and study carefully its possibilities and potentialities. It was my privilege, before being elected by the vote of all these countries to the position of Director-General of the Pan American Union five years ago, to have served as Minister of the United States in such representative countries of South America as Argentina, Panama, and Colombia. My association with the officials and the rank and file of the peoples of these countries, and my travels both in a public and private capacity throughout the Latin American countries, have developed in me a regard for them that approaches real affection. The more I have learned and seen of them, the more I have admired them. They have their faults and weaknesses, as have the government and the people of the United States; but they have a great many virtues and numerous favorable features which are too often overlooked by the critics who have not studied Latin America from a sympathetic standpoint. If we of the United States will remember that they are our sister republics, that they gained their independence under our example, that they have written their constitutions upon that of the United States, and that they will learn to love or hate us according as our attitude is that of sympathy and love or of selfishness and material concern, we shall in turn gain their confidence and sympathy and they will join with us in that spirit of Pan American unity and of solidarity which will make the Western Hemisphere the world’s leader in civilization, in business, and in enduring friendship among all nations. JOHN BARRETT. WASHINGTON, _June 1, 1912_. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. HISTORICAL SKETCH 1 II. BRAZIL 133 III. ARGENTINA 190 IV. URUGUAY 228 V. PARAGUAY 239 VI. BOLIVIA 257 VII. CHILE 275 VIII. PERU 314 IX. ECUADOR 352 X. COLOMBIA 375 XI. VENEZUELA 400 XII. THE GUIANAS 424 BIBLIOGRAPHY 429 INDEX 433 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ILLUSTRATIONS