Send Genaro a Hug from Me: Correspondence Between Palma Guillén and Alfonso Reyes at the Alfonsina Chapel

This essay reviews the correspondence between Palma Guillén and Alfonso Reyes, preserved in the archive of the Capilla Alfonsina in Mexico City. It contributes to the study of Mexico’s international ideology and its actors. It reviews the ideas exchanged by Palma Guillén and Alfonso Reyes in the construction of a friendship, sheds light on their visions of Mexico and the diplomatic tasks of both, and is linked to the diplomatic work of Gabriela Mistral, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. It identifies the process of building a particular diplomacy and forging an international doctrine. It also links diplomatic documents with personal correspondence, reconstructing Palma Guillén’s career in a predominantly male context, in which he managed to surround himself with key figures in education, diplomacy, and literature.

Keywords:
Correspondence; Palma Guillén; Alfonso Reyes; Diplomacy; International Ideology; Gabriela Mistral