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“Bolivians die with rotted lungs so that the world may consume cheap tin.”
― Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

“That which we allow to exist, to flourish freely according to its own rhythms, is superior to anything our little hands create.”
― William Powers, Whispering in the Giant's Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization

“This is how social change ultimately happens: enlightened values do not change behavior; the contours of self-interest are altered and new values rush into the vacuum.”
― William Powers, Whispering in the Giant's Ear: A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization

“When we came out of the cookhouse, we found the boy's father, the Indian man who had been grazing the horses in the pasture, waiting for us. He wanted someone to tell his troubles to. He looked about guardedly, afraid that the Señora might overhear him.

'Take a look at me' he said. I don't even know how old I am. When I was young, the Señor brought me here. He promised to pay me and give me a plot of my own. 'Look at my clothes' he said, pointing to the patches covering his body. 'I can't remember how many years I've been wearing them. I have no others. I live in a mud hut with my wife and sons. They all work for the Señor like me. They don't go to school. They don't know how to read or write; they don't even speak Spanish. We work for the master, raise his cattle and work his fields. We only get rice and plantains to eat. Nobody takes care of us when we are sick. The women here have their babies in these filthy huts.'

'Why don't you eat meat or at least milk the cows?' I asked.

'We aren't allowed to slaughter a cow. And the milk goes to the calves. We can't even have chicken or pork - only if an animal gets sick and dies. Once I raised a pig in my yard' he went on. 'She had a litter of three. When the Señor came back he told the foreman to shoot them. That's the only time we ever had good meat.'

'I don't mind working for the Señor but I want him to keep his promise. I want a piece of land of my own so I can grow rice and yucca and raise a few chickens and pigs. That's all.' 'Doesn't he pay you anything?' Kevin asked. 'He says he pays us but he uses our money to buy our food. We never get any cash. Kind sirs, maybe you can help me to persuade the master . Just one little plot is all I want. The master has land, much land.'

We were shocked by his tale. Marcus took out a notebook and pen. 'What's his name?'. He wrote down the name. The man didn't know the address. He only knew that the Señor lived in La Paz.

Marcus was infuriated. 'When I find the owner of the ranch, I'll spit right in his eye. What a lousy bastard! I mean, it's really incredible'. 'That's just the way things are,' Karl said. 'It's sad but there's nothing we can do about it.”
― Yossi Ghinsberg, Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival

“What's the story here, Karl?' Kevin asked.

'Hard as it is to believe, these people are slaves,' Karl explained.

'Slaves?' I asked skeptically.
'Well, you might not call them that but they are virtual slaves. They don't receive any pay. They are dealt with harshly. They don't have anywhere else to go'
'What about the government? Don't they help?' Marcus asked.
'The government?' Karl laughed. 'The government my eye! Those generals stay in power several years, make a bundle smuggling drugs, and once they're millionaires, they retire. Some other lousy generals take over from them, and history repeats itself. You think they give a shit what happens to a few lousy Indians?”
― Yossi Ghinsberg, Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival

“The times of empire have ended. These are times of the people.”
― Evo Morales Ayma

“Nuestra casa era una prodigiosa zarza ardiente que lamía los troncos de los árboles y avanzaba como una legión por el huerto. Supe que el sonido de esa crepitación descomunal era el de todos los esqueletos que me habían atormentado. Las calaveras de los abedules, las de nuestros padres y ahora la de tía Anita.”
― Giovanna Rivero, Tierra fresca de su tumba

“I found out a lot about my father as he regaled my wife. He'd learned how to be a potter in a small village in Bolivia. There, working on a kick-wheel in a shack the size of an outhouse, he started thinking about the few novels he'd read.”
― Walter Mosley, The Awkward Black Man

“I read somewhere...that, in 2010, the Bolivian government granted all living things equal rights to humans. I also read that Bolivia was home to the world's largest mirror. I do not believe these two facts to be unrelated. Mirrors force you to see you.”
― Diana Clarke

“When I say Bolivia, you just think California.”
― William Goldman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Screenplay

“Kid -- the next time I say, 'Let's go someplace like Bolivia,' let's go someplace like Bolivia.”
― William Goldman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Screenplay