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The Two Americas: Rafael Reyes and the Promotion of Hemispheric Cooperation, 1909–1921

Abstract:In 1900 José Enrique Rodó published Ariel, a book stressing the unbridgeable cultural, ethical and moral gap between the United States and Latin America, that quickly became the rallying cry of Latin American cultural independence. Fourteen years later, Rafael Reyes, former president of Colombia, published The Two Americas, which, while criticizing U.S. foreign policy, also made a strong case for hemispheric cooperation. The contrast between the attitudes revealed in these two books is striking, especially since Colombia, after the Panamanian revolt of 1903, was one of the most obvious victims of U.S. aggression. This paper explores these differences: first, by examining Reyes’ activities between 1909–1921 which were dominated by his efforts to improve U.S.-Colombian relations; second, by analyzing the arguments set forth in The Two Americas; and finally, by considering factors that might explain why Reyes’ view of U.S.-Latin American relations diverged so substantially from those expressed by Rodó. It concludes that because Reyes was a nationalist, a positivist, and a businessman, he believed that hemispheric collaboration was essential to Colombia’s modernization and that of all Latin America.