En la historia de la critica literaria en Colombia se ha aceptado la verdad incontrovertible de Miguel Antonio Caro como autor de las cartas, en una famosa discusion estetica, donde polemiza con el critico Baldomero Sanin Cano. El articulo pretende mostrar que Manuel Uribe Angel fue el verdadero remitente de ellas; y trata de examinar las ideas surgidas en este debate frente al pensamiento clasico y moderno; controversia que se convierte en ejemplo de las posiciones encontradas que dominaron la reflexion literaria de finales del siglo XIX en el pais. Descriptores: Sanin Cano, Baldomero; Caro, Miguel Antonio; Uribe Angel, Manuel; Nunez, Rafael; epistolarios; Literatura Colombiana; Siglo XIX; Cartas abierta a Brake. Abstract: In the history of Colombian literary criticism the incontrovertible truth that Miguel Antonio Caro is the author of some letters containing a famous aesthetic discussion, in which he confronts the critic Baldomero Sanin Cano has been accepted. The article tries to show that Manuel Uribe Angel was truly the sender of those letters and tries to examine the ideas concerning the classical and modern thought appearing in this debate. This controversy becomes an example of the most common opposite positions present in the literary reflections by the end of XIX Century in Colombia. Key words: Sanin Cano, Baldomero; Caro, Miguel Antonio; Uribe Angel, Manuel; Nunez, Rafael; Collected letters; Colombian literature; XIX Century; Cartas abiertas a Brake.