The double condition of Manuel Zeno Gandia -as medical doctor and politician- joins the writer's to transform the drama in La Charca into a deep reflection upon the evils that still nowadays harm the Latin American societies in general, and Puerto Rico in particular. Within the Cronicas de un mundo enfermo series, La charca (1894) is the best from a literary standpoint. As the reader delves into the plot the depiction of the labourers' life, tersely exposed and without panphletary adjectivations, stands out as a stern denunciation. The discusions between the cult and freethinking Juan del...