This article analyzes Pueblo enfermo (1937) by Bolivian intellectual Alcides Arguedas, exploring his interpretation of Bolivian reality through the essay as a fundamental literary genre in the construction of national identities in Hispanic America. It examines how Arguedas articulates the relationships between geography, ethnic composition, and social psychology to explain what he considers the causes of Bolivia’s backwardness. The analysis highlights Arguedas’s importance as a precursor of indigenismo, despite his Eurocentric and deterministic perspective, characteristic of his historical and intellectual context. The research reveals how Arguedas’s thought, although controversial for its pessimistic vision, constituted a significant contribution to understanding the tensions between tradition and modernity in Bolivia, an issue that remains relevant in discussions about national identity in the Andean region.