Inside South America

by John Gunther

Paperback

Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction, American, Geography

610 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

John Gunther was one of the best known and most admired journalists of his day, and his series of "Inside" books, starting with Inside Europe in 1936, were immensely popular profiles of the major world powers. One critic noted that it was Gunther's special gift to "unite the best qualities of the newspaperman and the historian." It was a gift that readers responded to enthusiastically. The "Inside" books sold 3,500,000 copies over a period of thirty years.

While publicly a bon vivant and modest celebrity, Gunther in his private life suffered disappointment and tragedy. He and Frances Fineman, whom he married in 1927, had a daughter who died four months after her birth in 1929. The Gunthers divorced in 1944. In 1947, their beloved son Johnny died after a long, heartbreaking fight with brain cancer. Gunther wrote his classic memoir Death Be Not Proud, published in 1949, to commemorate the courage and spirit of this extraordinary boy. Gunther remarried in 1948, and he and his second wife, Jane Perry Vandercook, adopted a son.

Reviews

[Aaron Million · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year, I was listening to an episode of Brian Lamb's podcast "Booknotes" where he interviewed Ken Cuthbertson, who wrote a biography about John Gunther. I do not ever remember hearing of Gunther, despite his biographer saying that he was one of the most well-known figures in America in the middle of the 20th century. Maybe I came across him at some point but forgot about him. Anyways, Cuthbertson's description of Gunther and what type of life he led intrigued me. He said that Gunther was a writer who famously wrote a series of serious books about continents and countries that he traveled to. The Inside... series. I was interested enough to decide that if I ever came across one of his books at a fairly reasonable price and in decent condition, I would buy it and give Gunther a try. Only a few months later, I happened across this book while browsing at the John R. King Bookstore in Detroit. I feel like South America in general is overlooked and looked down upon by the United States, so I was glad that it was this one, and I decided to buy it.

The single biggest drawback of this book is that it is, of course, dated. Gunther wrote it in 1967, so there is much talk of Communism, the Alliance for Progress, the Peace Corps, USAID, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. It is quite apparent that Gunther was an admirer of JFK, Johnson less so. However, he is far from an American apologist, and rightly criticizes some actions taken by the State Department in some of the countries that he visits. Also, some of the language used (like saying "Negroes" instead of blacks) shows the book's age, as well as his wife being along for the trip but only being mentioned here and there. While there are a few maps, which are good, there are no photos, which is disappointing. Gunther met so many different people that I would have liked to have seen photos of at least some of them, along with the many places that he visited, natural wonders that he saw, and food that he sampled.

But just because it is dated does not mean that it is a poor read nor a read not worth the time, because it is neither. On the contrary I found much of it quite fascinating. Gunther visited ten of the countries on the continent (he did not visit the Guianas because they were still colonial nations at that time). He interviewed the presidents of each of them; dined in fancy restaurants; visited with students, labor organizers, political opposition heads, peasants, and workers; did some hiking; spent time on the Amazon; and spoke with U.S. officials. Thus the book reads as part history, part economics, part foreign policy, part travelogue, and part food critique.

Before we get into the individual countries, I want to note that Gunther starts out with five chapters on Brazil before having three general chapters on the South American continent as a whole, talking about U.S. relations with the region, the overall influence of Communism, and the different ways that the U.S. is sending aid to these countries. While I do get that Brazil, being originally a Portuguese colony and thus being the outlier as far as being non-Spanish speaking as compared to most of the other countries - and also being by far the biggest country - sort of sticks out, I wonder why Gunther didn't begin with Brazil after the general chapters. That seemed odd to me.

BRAZIL This is a huge country, taking up approximately half of the land mass of the entire continent. Having been colonized (or more likely, invaded and taken over) by the Portuguese, it retains that language, immediately distinguishing itself from its neighbors. At the time of this book, it was ruled by a dictatorship which seemed to stifle any type of societal progress as far as alleviating the vast disparity between rich and poor. The country is marked by extreme poverty for many of its citizens. Joao Goulart was deposed in a coup in 1964. The President with whom Gunther met with at the time was Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco. Gunther details a history of coup followed by coup followed by coup. Later I looked up what happened to him, only to learn that he died in an airplane crash the year that this book was published, and his successor had a heart attack two years after that and died in office. And of course, given all of the recent happenings in that country with Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters, it makes me wonder if much has changed there since Gunther was there.

ARGENTINA Gunther describes this country as having that closest to a North American lifestyle that Americans would recognize, while at the same time being rife with political instability. This was also a military dictatorship, with the leader being Juan Carlos Ongania. But Gunther traces much of Argentina's issues back to a previous dictator, Juan Domingo Peron, who had been exiled a decade before but still wielded enormous influence. Argentina is more developed than the other countries, but also quite religious. The economy was stuck in neutral, and it was quite anti-American in sentiment. As I did with Branco in Brazil, when I finished the Argentina chapters I looked to see what happened to Ongania: he was toppled in a coup in 1970.

URUGUAY Gunther likened this country to being an off-shoot of Argentina because it was somewhat well-developed. Largely agrarian in nature, it was as close to a genuine democracy as Gunther was to find in South America. But perhaps it was too democratic at the top: it was ruled by nine different presidents (the National Council of Government). Yes, nine. They all had to work together to make decisions. This was set up to avoid a dictatorship. Yet, in the quest to do that, the nine president council structure diluted power and responsibility to the point where inaction was the rule and accountability was non-existent. Uruguay had a well-developed and generous pension system. Far too generous, as it was economically unfeasible given its obligations. As with the other countries, I looked to see if the nine-member presidency was still in existence. Thankfully no, it was abolished around the time that this book went to print.

PARAGUAY Another dictatorship, this one under Alfredo Stroessner. Paraguay was devoid of Communists, which was somewhat odd at this time in South America. The Indian language of Guarani was, along with Spanish, an official language. It is not quite clear but it appears that Paraguay was at one time a colony of Argentina. This is a land-locked country that was not easy for Gunther to get to. I looked up Stroessner afterwards: overthrown in a coup in 1989. At least he lasted awhile...

CHILE If there is one man in this book whom Gunther seemed enamored of, it was Chilean President Eduardo Frei. Gunther even titled one of the chapters on Chile "A Good Man in Chile" lest there might be any confusion. Frei stood between democracy (he was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party) and a Communistic government. Frei though, like Chile, was on the Left. Chile actually declared war on Germany in WWII, when most Latin American nations stayed neutral. Chile is one of the countries where Gunther met a roundtable of students to discuss their concerns about the U.S. Like so many South Americans, the students seemed to deplore U.S. financial assistance, viewing it as the U.S. trying to control them and govern their lives by deciding how much money or benefits their country received. One of the Chilean chapters is about Gunther's airplane travel to the very bottom of the continent, emphasizing how remote and desolate that corner of the world is. While Frei did finish out his term in 1970, his successor Salvador Allende was deposed in a 1973 coup at least partially organized by the CIA.

PERU This is a very rural and Catholic country, comprised of many remote villages that were also quite poor. It has little Communist influence. It is a diversified economy, with sugar being the biggest driver of exports. The Amazon River runs through the country, which means that it is the only way to reach some of those remote villages. In the capital city, Lima, it rarely rains due to its location on the coast, in front of the Andes Mountains, and the Humboldt Current which steers any precipitation away. Yet, despite almost no rainfall, it is frequently cloudy and misty.

BOLIVIA Like Peru, this is also a poor country, with the primary export here being tin. It has many slums, which are called barrientos there. It also has a significant Indian population, made up of two main tribes: the Quechuca and the Aymara, each of which have their own distinct language. Indeed many of the Indians cannot speak Spanish. Much of the country is at high altitude due to the Andes. It actually has two capitals: La Paz and Sucre.

ECUADOR Gunther spends the least amount of time here, devoting only one chapter to this small country. Its primary export is bananas. It is racked with border disputes with its neighbors, and was governed by a four man junta at the time of writing. The equator runs across Ecuador.

COLOMBIA Gunther describes this as a very violent country, more so than its neighbors Ecuador and Peru, although those two also are somewhat violent. Part of the violence comes from the poverty of its citizens. A land reform program was going on at the time. Unfortunately, an all too common situation existed: the vast majority of the land was held by a relatively few rich people or conglomerations. Colombia was also experiencing a population boom, which caused concern for the future since so many people were already stuck in rampant poverty. The country at the time was operating under the auspices of the National Front, which forced government to hand off to the opposition party at each election. The U.S. equivalent would be a Republican being in office for four years, then being constitutionally mandated to hand power over to a Democrat for the next four years, who in turn who give power back to a Republican. And this two-party involvement in governance went through the ranks too: for each level in government, you would have to alternate between the parties. Again, a U.S. equivalent would be the Secretary of State being a Republican under a Democratic president, with the Under Secretary of State being a Democrat. As one can imagine, this was not working well. Or at all. I later looked to see that this system was abolished in 1974.

VENEZUELA At the time that Gunther went here it was no longer ruled by a dictator, but until recently it had been. The country was being wracked by student protests, in the all-too-familiar vein of wanting better lives and more equal opportunities to better themselves. The country had suffered through a series of brutal dictatorships, with one dictator (Marcos Perez Jimenez) hanging political opponents on meat hooks to let them die. Considering the more recent issues with Hugo Chavez and then Nicolas Maduro, I wonder if things have improved much.

Gunther concludes with a chapter summarizing his thoughts on all of the countries that he visited, and what he considered the biggest challenges to be for the continent as a whole. One line on page 525 stuck out to me: "Perhaps a summing up of the picture is that every country deserves a better government than what it has." Gunther's writing style is engaging and personable without being overly opinionated. I got the sense that he tried to view these countries, and their peoples, on their own terms, and not as an American swopping in for observations. If the book had been written closer to the current time, I think it would be even more relevant to read. But even with its age, I still came away learning things while being entertained, and that to me is the mark of a good book.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book that Gunther wrote about Latin America and a big flaw this time is that he only covered South America. An explanation is not entirely given. I know he doesn't like writing about countries that he hasn't seen in person , and it had been a long time since the previous book. Maybe it was a matter of travel arrangements, but it's a shame there was no coverage of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, though they will be mentioned. It would be impossible not to mention the latter in the 60s, for obvious reasons.

 As great as a writer that John Gunther is, his aim was always to expound upon current events and the greatest liability of any of the Inside series is that his focus on personalities, politics, and recent developments will age the books poorly.  I think that Inside South America aged a lot better than Inside Latin America. If the historical context of the latter was the region during World War II, then that of the former is the region at the height of the Cold War. The shadow of Castro loomed prominently over the entire continent, but while Communist movements may be active throughout, and while they may even boast of including distinguished intellectuals, there didn't seem to be any imminent threat of revolution on the mainland.

On that matter however it was interesting to note the political situation in Chile where the advance of the left-wing FRAP coalition had been making the establishment very nervous, and Gunther notes hysterical concerns about Argentinian or even American intervention in the case of FRAP winning control of the government. One can definitely see the pieces moving into place for the Pinochet Coup which would occur only six years after the book's publication.

US presence is conspicuous throughout the continent, much more conspicuous than any Communist presence, and reactions to it are mixed. Gunther keeps encountering Anti-Vietnam war graffiti. I also didn't know that then Vice President Nixon has been mobbed in Caracas in 1958. When this book was published, there had been a recent intervention in the Dominican Republic under the pretext of preventing a Communist revolution. Also however are mentioned the numerous development projects that have been funded by the US led Alliance for Progress, referred throughout the book as Alianza. Gunther will also encounter the positive experiences, of young, eager Peace Corp volunteers.

Since this is one of the few regions, the only other one being Europe, which managed to get two Inside books it is also interesting to make note of the differences. It's been more than twenty years since the previous book. We now get to see references to television and the Vietnam War. Keeping up with the times, Gunther also shows a marked concern with birth control and overpopulation that I never noticed in any of his other writings.

It's fascinating to see post war Argentina orient itself away culturally
from Europe and more towards the US. Brasilia, planning of which had been alluded to in Inside Latin America is now a fully functioning capital. Colombia since the last book has unfortunately descended into an anarchy of battles, kidnappings, and assaults very reminiscent of more recent drug violence though La Violencia while definitely caused in large part due to poverty apparently doesn't involve drug trafficking.

Some political figures will appear again and still be prominent, like Haya de la Torre in Peru. Others will obviously be gone. Getulio Vargas, the dictator of Brazil, whom I believe Gunther actually met, has committed suicide since Inside Latin America.

The book itself in my opinion is written in a much better manner than Inside Latin America. I think this time he actually did write a brief historical recap of every single country that he visited, even the less prominent ones. I think there's better travel descriptions here as well. He visits Machu Pichu this time, and gives picturesque descriptions of Tierra del Fuego, the latter actually having been my favorite part of the book.

This would not be the last of the Inside books to be published, but it would be the last to be fully completed by Gunther himself, as he would die only three years after its publication. There's no indication that this volume is any sort of conclusion, but it wasn't a bad way to end the series either.

[E Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realized since I was totally ignorant on the history, geography and politics of South America, this would be a good book to undertake.
I did learn a great deal about the historical discovery, by Europeans, of the continent, when each
country gained independence, and the products each produced.
There was a major disadvantage in that the book was published in 1966, so much of the
information is hopelessly outdated. Also, this was at the height of the Cold War and the US
was paranoid of South American countries following in Cuba's footsteps. There is an analysis
of left wing and/or Communist leanings for each of the countries covered.
The politics aside, I learned so much about South American itself--that the driest desert in the
world is not in Africa or Asia, but the Atacama desert in Chili. That Europeans, especially from
Italy, France and Germany, immigrated to South American countries just as they did to the USA.
I was surprised that many of the Presidents in various countries had served time in jail or had
been previously in exile. I learned that Quito, Asuncion, and other South American cities were founded before St. Augustine. One tantalizing bit of information, although unsubstantiated, was that
an Indian tribe in Ecuador speaks a language resembling Korean.
With being so ignorant of the continent, I learned way more information than I could retain, so
I will have to keep this book for reference or perhaps buy a more recent publication.
The author did not cover British, French, or Dutch Guiana because he only wanted to cover independent states. Guyana and Suriname gained independence too late to be included.
One of my criteria for a book being especially good, is that it makes me want to learn more about the
subject it covers, and this one fits that bill.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Baedeker for a continent in turmoil. This is the first of John Gunther's INSIDE books I ever read, and it's a tribute to his prowess as a writer that he charmed me into reading the rest. Gunther's epigraph comes from John. F. Kennedy, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable". This portrait of South America, written during the Kennedy-Johnson years, is the author's search for that third force between the Marxist revolution proposed by Fidel Castro and the horrific status quo of what Gunther calls "the pug-nosed military dictators" then in power from Ecuador to Argentina. His heroes are Social and Christian Democrats pushing for their own version of the Alliance for Progress, reform, not revolution, and close ties with the United States. He finds one in President Eduardo Frei of Chile, "who would be a Marxist except for his allegiance to the Catholic Church", and Romulo Bentacourt of Venezuela, an ex-Communist turned progressive. Their opposite number is General Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay, whom Gunther humorously notes spoke to him only in superlatives: "How noble the peasants of Paraguay! How sturdy the Guarani Indians!". Gunther is frightened by Communists in the region but seeks to understand them. A talk with Simon Reyes, "a serious and profound full-blooded Indian and head of the Bolivian Communist Party" convinces Gunther he is right in insisting on American non-interference in South American affairs. Gunther could be incredibly naive ("Why does the army control Brazilian politics? Because it has the arms", and "I wondered, before I met him, how good Jorge Luis Borges's English was" but these miniatures of countries and peoples trying to emerge from underdevelopment and the domination of the United States hold up splendidly.