Facundo - Civilizacion y barbarie Domingo F. Sarmiento Preface by Juan Carlos Casas, author of "La Ingratitud de Sarmiento" 266 pages - In Spanish Facundo is a text about geography, sociology, politics, and history -all blended together- as well as the clear preview of the government program of who was to become the president of Argentina 15 years later. The confrontation of two opposed conceptions about political power: uneducated autocratic rule versus cultivated institutionalized government, is the basis of this work, first conceived as a political pamphlet and finally grown into masterpiece heights due to the overflowing Sarmiento talent. "For Sarmiento, barbarism was the native tribes and gaucho plains; and cities, the civilization. The gaucho has been replaced by colonial farmers and blue collar workers, barbarism now is not just in the fields but also in the big city mobs, and the demagogue plays the role of the ancient caudillo, who also was a demagogue. The disjunctive has...