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25 With few exceptions, one does not find the characteristics that are inherent in a defined and integrated nationality in most Latin American countries. In these countries, there is neither a generalized idea nor a unanimous feeling of what a Patria is. Instead, there are small patrias and local nationalisms. This state of affairs is evident at the occasional congresses that bring together the representatives of these countries. The Second Pan-American Scien­ tific Conference and the XIX Congress of Americanists, held in Washington, D.C., last December and January, provided an interesting and ample field in which to observe this point. As a whole, the delegations attending both congresses represented the race, language, and culture of no more than 25 percent of the populations of their respective countries. They represented the Spanish and Portuguese languages and the race and civilization of European origin. The remaining 75 percent of those populations, composed of men of indigenous race, indigenous language, and indigenous civilization, was not represented. A few researchers at the conference mentioned this indigenous population, but only in ethnological terms, as the object of scholarly speculation. In a sense, the existence of these 75 million Americans goes unnoticed by all of the so-called civilized world. The languages that they speak are unknown; we are ignorant of their physical nature and of their ethical and religious ideas. Their habits and customs are unknown to us. Can countries in which the two main components of the population are so different from each other in all respects, and are completely ignorant of each other, be considered patrias? To further develop these ideas and the conclusions 2 Patrias and Nationalities of Latin America 26 P a t r i a s a n d N a t i o n a l i t i e s o f L a t i n A m e r i c a that can be derived from them, we will summarize the characteristics of nationality and the conditions inherent in the concept of patria. A. Patrias and Nationalities If one observes countries that possess a defined and integrated nationality (Germany, France, Japan, and so forth), one finds the following conditions. First, there is the ethnic unity of the majority of the population. That is, the population is composed of individuals who belong to the same race or to ethnic types that are very closely related to each other. Second, the majority of each of these populations has and uses a common language, unprejudiced by the presence of secondary languages or dialects. Third, diverse elements, classes, or social groups in these countries manifest aspects of the same culture, however much these manifestations differ in their form or intensity depending on the economic conditions or the physical and intellectual development of said groups. In other words, the majority of the population has similar ideas, albeit with variations in form. They share similar sentiments and express similar aesthetic , moral, religious, and political ideals. Housing, eating habits, dress, and all customs in general are the same, with differences simply being an indicator of the better or worse economic conditions of different social classes. Finally, memory of the past—with all of its glories and tears—is treasured in the hearts of all like a holy relic. National traditions, that ancient pedestal on which the Patria rests, live vibrantly and vigorously in the minds of men, women, and children. They are shared by the wise and the ignorant, by the sons of the rabble and among the most refined, by the highest cultivators of art and the poor village storyteller. That kind of national tradition performs the miracle of transmuting itself into a thousand different faces, while always conserving its unity and typical character. The Germans, the French, the Japanese, those who possess a true nationality , are children of one great family. When they travel through their respective countries, they find true brethren among men, women, and children. They rise to the solemn cry of the same blood, of the same flesh. That cry is the voice of life, the mysterious force that groups together matter and opposes its disintegration . In the souls of all of these people, one finds the same images that are in one’s own soul. From their lips the words of a single language spill forth, aged like fine wine. When one lives in this way, one has a Patria. We will now see if the countries that stretch from the Rio Bravo to...

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