Martí on the United States

Abstract

The pieces appearing below were written by Jose Martí while he was serving as New York correspondent for leading newspapers in Latin America: La Nacion of Buenos Aires, El Partido Liberal of Mexico, La Opinion Publica of Montevideo, among others. Marti served as correspondent for the Latin American press from 1881 to 1895. No one had previously had a chance to interpret the United States to so many people in Latin America, and Marti made full use of this opportunity. His newsletters covered every aspect of American life, but they are more than reportage; they also represent intelligent critiques of American politics, education, and culture. Marti showed that he was—not only a competent, articulate synthesizer of descriptive details, but also understood the changes taking place in American society in the years between 1880 and 1895—the stratification of economic classes, the alienation of American workers, the transformation of competitive into monopoly capitalism and its impact on American expansionism- and the danger this held for Latin America.

This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.

Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.