LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I have read with deep interest your fine editorial on "The Poverty of Latin American Studies" in the February 12 issue. I heartily applaud what you have said. But I would add that the problem is not confined to Harvard.

One of my primary objects as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Law School this year is to gain an impression of Latin American studies in this country, particularly in the field of law. A recent survey trip to educational institutions across the country has convinced me of a general lack of interest in this area which, I submit, must be corrected if our common hopes for improved understanding and harmonious relations between the peoples of North and Latin America are to be realized.

I do not mean to discount in any way the value of individual efforts in research or teaching that are being made with respect to Latin America at several of Harvard's graduate school and at other institutions such as Columbia University, Stanford University, the New York University School of Law, the American Institute of Foreign Trade at Phoenix, Southern Methodist University, Tulane University Law School, and the University of the Pacific at Stockton, California. I appreciate, too, that the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Interamerican Bar Association, the Institute of International Education and other organizations support many worthwhile activities, scholars and otherwise, in or concerning Latin America.

But too little effort is being made to prepare young Americans for study or work in Latin America in a systematic, comprehensive way. To be sure, this is a difficult task, for the field is broad and the eventual economic rewards to the students are not always clear. Nevertheless, I am confident that it lies within the capabilities of American educational institutions to provide this kind of training, and I am hopeful that Harvard University may take the lead in doing so. Ignacle Winizky,   Professor of Commercial Law,   University of Buenes Alres.