On the Problem of the Indian in South America

The problem of the Indian in South America is generally regarded as part of the problem of minorities, similar to the Negro problem in the United States. This is an error. It would be better to compare it with the Indian (or Hindu) problem in Indostan. That is to say, we are dealing with a problem of national majorities under the rigid and forced guardianship of a supposedlyi white minority, which is in reality mestizo. The French professor Andre Siegfried, author of Les Etats Unis d'aujourd 'hui, has already stated in his work Amerique Latine that the number of whites in Latin America is insignificant. But he did not emphasize the fact that the number of those who believe themselves to be white is greater. Nor did he realize that there is a much greater number of Indians and mestizos than there appears to be since many of them consider themselves white although they are not. This brings us to the discussion of the problem from another point of view. First, Indians are in the majority in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Mexico, etc.; second, by Indians we understand not only the pure ones but also the mestizo who has a notable portion of Indian in his blood and in his psychology; third, if we consider the po

Development economics · Economics · Geography · Political science · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · History and Politics in Latin America