While I was in the Argentine Navy as a conscript in the mid 60s I translated documents for my boss, the Senior US Naval Advisor. Americans I translated as estadounidenses (you know that in Spanish the days of the week, the months of the year and nationalities are all in lower case). And the U.S. was always EEUU. Americans are rarely called gringos in Argentina as a gringo is a city bumpkin out in the Pampa. I agree with your fine piece and would only add that reading Latin American authors helps to remove one from that North American octopus. Borges translated into English (if you cannot yet read in Spanish) is a good beginning.

And one of the joys of living in a “third world” is finding many open bookstores in the evening after going to the movies.

Alex Waterhouse-Hayward

Vancouver, BC