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| Portrait of Montezuma II Tecnochtitlan (ca 1466-1520), the last king of the Aztecs, 1680-1697, painting by Antonio Rodriguez, oil on canvas. Mexico, 16th-17th century. Detail. Florence, Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace) Museo Degli Argenti (Silver Museum) Photo: DeAgostin, Contributor / Getty Images |
Latin
America includes Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking nations to the south
of the United States. They share significant similarities because they
were colonized by either Spain or Portugal. Our closest neighbor,
Mexico, and other countries in Central and South America make up the
region.
Arana,
whose previous book was the biography “Bolivar,” manages this expansive
space and long history by focusing by turns on the three crucibles of
the title, what she calls the “three obsessions” of silver, sword and
stone, and she profiles people who are representative of each.
In
the section on “Silver,” for instance, Arana, in a deeply researched
and reported analysis, shows the ways in which the lust for precious
metals fueled Spain’s conquest of America. It then created a system of
slavery and other cruel exploitations and revolutions...
Journalist James Barrett Reston famously said, “The people of the United
States will do anything for Latin America, except read about it.”
Source: Houston Chronicle
