Americas: The changing face of Latin America and the Caribbean
by Peter Winn
Chapter 1 – A View from the South
Many people think that the term “America” solely refers to the U.S. In reality,
however, “America” refers to a whole half of the globe, the western hemisphere of Earth.
Not just North America but the South and of course, Latin America too was a part of this
misunderstood name. The author, Peter Winn stated in the first chapter that his interest
for Latin America grew when Fidel Castrow started speaking of reforms of the region.
Also, President John F. Kennedy of U.S. proclaimed an Alliance for Progress with intentions
to thwart Castro’s movements. This led to one of the biggest migrations of American
history, where rural regions were soon filled with city dwellers. Nevertheless, the author
disclosed that his intentions of writing this book were to let others know the perception of
“America” from the south.
Sad to say, America is usually viewed from the North American perspective. All
other countries below the US are not called America but by their individual names like
Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. “It is all a question of perspective,” stated a Chilean scholar.
Indeed, it is. In the early days, cartographers only emphasized the northern part of
America and drew the southern part smaller than the rest. However, now we know that
the south has much more features. The great Andes mountain range covers almost all
the length of South American continent, and the Amazon is world’s largest river in width
with its mighty currents and vastness.
In South America, the plateaus are one of the most populated areas aside from
the coast. The continent still has tremors and earthquakes which do cause much
damage, but also leave the land rich with natural resources. When the Europeans barged
in and started colonizing Latin America, many geographical, ecological, and agricultural
changes took place. With the advancement of technology, and economic boom, the
major cities of Latin America ranks top in pollution. This heightened global warning on
