America From Under the Lens of 1904 Latin America

Ruben Dario is widely thought to be one of the greatest Spanish-language poets of the twentieth century.  He was the leading figure in Modernismo, a Spanish literary movement.  The movement shifted away from lengthy rhetorical developments of Realism to a view of "art for arts sake."

However, Dario used his poem To Roosevelt as a political statement to the United States and then president Theodore Roosevelt about their expansionist policies.  It was written in 1904, the year after the Hays-Varilla Treat, after Dario had seen how the United States muscled its way into the region for the creation of the Panama Canal.  The poem begins by explaining that Dario will address the president in a biblical, or straight forward, manner.  To Roosevelt matter-of-factly states throughout that the United States is a powerful, aggressive, and greedy country that should tread softly because Spanish America will one day be a powerful region.


Dario's poem gives us a perspective that would be hard for the average American to capture in the early 1900s.  It is sometimes difficult to see how our actions affect others, especially on a large world scale.  The same qualities of American identity that we often see as good such as assertiveness and ambition could be viewed as negatives by others who might value other characteristics like simplicity and spiritual nobility.