In this article, Roberto Pontual ponders the concept of “discovery,” and discusses the development of a Latin American awareness that has been imposed from elsewhere. This external view establishes a sense of foreign domination that sees the subcontinent engaged in a constant (and unattained) search for its identity. Historically speaking, this worldview has led to “imposed identities” inspired by the political ideological platforms of the New Deal and the “Good Neighbor policy.” The 1930s were in fact a time when Mexican muralism was in vogue and MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art in New York) was keenly interested in such things. That interest was subsequently fueled by the Cold War, when the United States actively promoted exhibitions of art from the Americas, and then by the “Alliance for Progress” in the 1960s. The resurgence of Latin American Constructivism came later on in the thick of the financial crisis of the 1970s, which included the Austin Symposium (1975), the gathering of critics and artists in Caracas, the biennials—the Iberoamericana in Mexico and the Latinoamericana in São Paulo—and the exhibition Geometria Sensível at the MAM-RJ (Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro), all of which happened in the late 1970s. It should also be noted that in the Postmodern view, Latin America is the latest El Dorado where the poverty of resources does not trump creativity, leading to countless international exhibitions. According to Pontual, those serial “discoveries” of regional art spawned stereotypes, which nonetheless contributed to a better understanding of Latin American art. What is lacking, however, is hard to ponder: an affirmation of the right to modernity, the acknowledgment of the ability to break away, the demise of painterly views, and the blunt rejection of any suggestion of colonialism.