The Argument of Latin America: Words for the North Americans

Abstract

Last spring, one of the big TV networks arranged a debate between Carlos Fuentes, the well-known young Mexican novelist, and Richard Goodwin, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American affairs. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico, however, refused a visa to Senor Fuentes and the debate never took place. An effort was then made to place Senor Fuentes' prepared text before the American public via one of the mass-circulation magazines. None was interested. After you have read the text below, you will understand why both the State Department and the mass media are so anxious to keep the views of a leading Latin American intellectual from the American public. As the son of a Mexican diplomat, Carlos Fuentes went to school in Washington, D.C., and is as much at home in the English as in the Spanish language. - The Editors

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