The quasi–public opinion in the US Press on Chile, Peru and Bolivia during the Final Phase of the Washington Conferences (1922)

Abstract

The conferences in Washington, where Chile and Peru tried to resolve the conflict in Tacna and Arica, are examined, focusing on the coverage given by the US press in its final phase. The objective is to analyze the construction of images about the state actors in the process: Chile, Peru, Bolivia and the United States. The hypothesis suggests that this fabrication was based on the media appreciation that Chile and Peru had difficulties in coordinating a settlement, favoring the emergence of a US arbitration. The chosen methodology was mixed, focusing on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the hemerographic sources. The conclusions indicate that they allow to enrich the historical account of the conferences, highlighting the representative dimension of diplomats as personifications of their States, and detecting the disseminating function of the ethos of the countries studied by the press actant.