Cure for a sick continent: Latin American unity and the Latin-Iberian brotherhood in the writings of César Zumeta

Abstract

This article analyzes two principle works of the Venezuelan writer César Zu- meta (1860-1955), El continente enfermo and Las potencias y la intervención en Hispanoamérica to understand how this intellectual understood the dangers that surrounded Latin America during the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Within the context of the modernization and consolidation of national states, threats from imperialist powers, internal conflicts in Latin American republics, and the emergence of a medical vocabulary in the public arena, César Zumeta became concerned with denouncing what he considered as “continental diseases” and to propose the cure for what he identified as “sick”. Among the solutions the Venezuelan writer found were the unity of Latin American countries and a Latin-Iberian brotherhood, that, in his view, could cure the diseases that struck Latin America. This article highlights text of César Zumeta’s production and trajectory to help comprehend s writings.