Latin America, though poor, is a part of the West. The institutions, pastimes, intellectual history, languages, and belief systems of the vast majority of Latin Americans are of Western origin. Renowned Cuban writer Carlos Alberto Montaner will explain why a better understanding by the region’s inhabitants of their own cultural background will help Latin America relate to the United States and the rest of the world. Alvaro Vargas Llosa will discuss the relevance of Latin America’s Western traditions to the ideological battle between populism and modernity currently raging in the region.