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LATIN AMERICA — AN ECUMENICAL BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Author(s) -
Hayward Victor
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
international review of mission
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.118
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1758-6631
pISSN - 0020-8582
DOI - 10.1111/j.1758-6631.1971.tb02512.x
Subject(s) - paragraph , latin americans , history , confidentiality , law , genealogy , geography , media studies , political science , sociology
Please don't skip this introductory paragraph. It is the most important one in the whole of this long survey article — simply because it tells you what it is, and what it isn't. I was appalled to be asked to write this paper. Not only because it was too much like work, but also because I well know that I am no authority on Latin America. Prior to 1970 I had visited this fascinating continent only three times. In September and October of that year I made a quick tour of nine countries in South and Central America and of nine countries or islands in the Caribbean Region (with those of the latter which are English or Dutch‐speaking I shall not deal in this paper). My one advantage was to cover a great deal of ground within a single tour, against the background of similar tours I had already made in all other parts of the world. After visiting each country I wrote an immediate and semi‐confidential report. On the basis of these, my colleagues asked me to write this survey article recording impressions gained largely through this single tour. It is faithful reporting, but inevitably superficial, and may be unintentionally misleading. It is not a mine of information, but a bird's eye view — and the bird not only had an ecumenical bias, but was a bird of passage.