In the Praeger Contemporary World Series, Colombia is now the first Latin American country to receive systematic treatment in a separate volume. The author is a staff member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations who in 1961-62 held an appointment in Colombia as fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs. He has put together a short introduction to contemporary Colombia that is both readable and crammed with factual data. It begins with background chapters on “The Land and the People” and “History”; proceeds through more specialized treatment of such topics as “The Elections of 1962 and 1964,” “Coffee,” “Cali,” and “The Catholic Church”; and ends with a chapter “Colombia Faces the Future.” The general tone of the book is cautiously optimistic.
The first two chapters are inevitably somewhat superficial and are marred both by one or two conspicuous omissions and by more numerous but mostly trivial errors Also the last chapter tends to belabor the obvious, sprinkling its conclusions with so many “ifs” that its net contribution is slight. Even in the topical chapters that occupy the major part of the book there are some arguable statements, as well as occasional signs of hasty composition, but on the whole those chapters are sound, and they contain much useful information on conditions as late as mid-1964. There is, for example, a good treatment of the mechanics of Colombian electoral procedure, an entertaining, sympathetic thumbnail sketch of President Valencia, and clear though highly simplified presentation of the major alternative courses for economic development that face Colombian planners. Perhaps too much space is devoted to some topics such as the Peace Corps, which receives one whole chapter— while others are definitely slighted, and the Colombian army receives only scattered references in passing. But for a book that pretends only to offer conscientious reporting, not original research or comprehensive scholarly discussion, the virtues are more important than the shortcomings. Though suitable for the general reader, it can also be a valid addition to the Colombianist’s quick-reference shelf.
