The biggest cocaine factory bust this week

I am deeply skeptical when it comes to claims of success in the U.S. [international but U.S.-led] War on Drugs, and not because I think illegal drugs are a great thing (I don’t).  In this, I have lots of company.  Those publicly opposing the U.S. [U.S. Support for the] War on Drugs include Noam Chomsky, [...]

Power’s “Whispering in the Giant’s Ear,” reviewed

Whispering in the Giant’s Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia’s War on Globalization by William Powers.  New York and London: Bloomsbury. 2006.  305 pp.
This book, written by a U.S. international aid worker, is a well-written, honest, warts-and-all look at Koel Kempff and other Bolivian national parks in a context of growing indigenous political power and [...]

Bolivian officials = helpful, polite, efficient. AA reps = FAIL

That’s right. The title is not a typo. Getting through customs in Bolivia was (relatively speaking) a breeze. Dealing with American Airlines was awful.
Our itinerary had us flying out of Chicago at 7 PM, landing in Miami at 11, overnighting in Miami, and taking the afternoon direct flight to Santa [...]

Now gringos can vote for Evo too!

President Evo Morales is one of 207 candidates for Time’s Top 100 People of the Year.  You can vote for him here.
You can see the entire list of candidates here.  Evo is listed #130.  And every time you want to vote, you need to fill out one of those word recognition things.  Which means the [...]

Dia de los inocentes gringos (Happy April Fools!)

Jim Shultz at the Democracy Center has treated us to another April Fool’s gag, claiming to have uncovered a U.S. government conspiracy to impose daylight savings time on Bolivia.  Among the invented protests against gringo temporal imperialism was this gem:
Labor leader Ronaldo Quispe declared that the move by the U.S. was an outrageous intrusion against [...]