Letter: Heath’s quip should cool Latin America’s hotheads

Michael Stott’s Global Insight column “Latin America beats the world at trading insults, but not trade” (Opinion, April 11), about the rather blunt language used by Latin American heads of state, was amusing but also troubling.

Wars of words can have serious consequences like Ecuador’s police storming Mexico’s embassy in Quito.

The Latin American leaders mentioned by Stott should strive to dispel the stereotype that they are a hotheaded lot.

As I read Stott’s column, I recalled the remark by Britain’s 1970s Conservative prime minister Edward Heath that “a diplomat is a man who thinks twice before he says nothing”.

Usefully, for Latin American leaders, Heath’s observation translates beautifully into Spanish: “Un diplomático es un hombre que se lo piensa dos veces antes de no decir nada.”

James Patterson
Washington, DC, US