ROOTS OF LATIN AMERICA: ORIGINS AND STRUCTURES OF AN IDENTITY

The article "Roots of Latin America" explores the origins and foundations of Latin American identity. Focusing the historical concept of Latin Americanism, this work chooses a chronological outline centered on three periods that complement each other. The first period debates of the concept came originally from France or Latin America itself, in the middle of the 19th century. The second period aims at the ways by which the concept became more accepted in the intellectual environment, between the. 19th and 20th century. Finally, the third stage - briefly analyzed here - comprises the maturation process of Latin American identity, as a supranational identity, from the emergence of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, which affects the way countries in the region see their neighbors. Finally, the article presents the mainstream interpretations about this concept of identity that is still so discussed in semantic politics.