In light of the Spanish-American War (1896), with which the United States put an end to Spain’s colonial presence in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, César Zumeta issues a warning about the weakness of tropical Central American countries, especially in the face of a new wave of colonization (this time from North America) based on the lure of unexploited riches. He calls for unity among countries that are “daughters of the Wolf” (Rome) to confront the “sons of the Leopard” (the Anglo-Saxons). He ends his essay by outlining a defensive military strategy.

 The Venezuelan journalist and diplomat César Zumeta (1863–1955) proposes a geographical form of determinism, stating that southern tropical countries should focus on their agricultural strengths rather than try to emulate the development models advocated by North America.He was perhaps one of the first in Latin America to warn of the danger of North American expansionist ambitions, and simultaneously encouraged the proposal of an alternative. Zumeta’s statements were significant beyond Venezuelan borders since he was warning—from the United States—about the danger of the young northern country’s goals of expanding into their “back yard.” His warning, however, was not expressed in the visual arts in Venezuela until later, in 1958, in the early days of President Rómulo Betancourt’s democratic administration. In fact, for much of the twentieth century, Venezuela was governed by military regimes bankrolled by the exploitation of oil fields by foreign companies, most of which were North American. Political and ideological concerns over that situation were expressed in the arts during the 1960s, as in the case of abstract (informalist) avant-garde movements such as El Techo de la Ballena [The Roof of the Whale], and New Figuration movements such as Pez Dorado [Golden Fish]. These groups produced art and manifestos expressing bitter rejection of the government’s form of dependence.    The flier included in Zumeta’s text, which has no publisher’s imprint, was republished in 1961 with other articles, speeches, and letters by the Secretaría General de la Presidencia de la República, with a prologue and notes by Rafael Ángel Insausti. In this subsequent version, Insausti included two stylistic corrections made by the Venezuelan author in the original flier he had kept in his personal file. There is a letter from the Uruguayan essayist José Enrique Rodó addressed to César Zumeta, which was published in El Cojo Ilustrado in 1900, the year that Ariel was published. The letter reveals Rodó’s interest in Zumeta’s critical stance, so that he pledges to send him a copy of Ariel, which has since become a classic of Latin American literature.