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Bolivia: The Lost Frontier
Evo sucks: Even though Tim Elfrink's December 18 cover story, "Black October," was beautifully written, I'm disappointed that the egotism and thirst for revenge of a man as ignorant and power-hungry as Bolivia's current president, Evo Morales, has blinded even an educated audience. People should know better than to be biased by stories such as this one.
Using a word as strong as genocide as an accusation against the government of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is not only irresponsible but also lacking facts to support it. As a Bolivian who was raised in and lived in La Paz until I left for college, I am just as heartbroken as everybody else who lived through Black October.
In my case, I lived it at a distance; I was already in the United States. But after spending four months in La Paz this past summer, I've seen the web of lies that President Morales knits. He envelops "his indigenous brothers" with lies, taking advantage of their ignorance, poverty, and overall desperation to make them believe what he wants them to believe at whatever cost. He has somehow bought the majority of his support with false promises of better lives for the population.
The military in Bolivia is ill-prepared owing to lack of funds and preparation to deal with major scenarios such as the one described in your story. But the government could not have very well ignored the revolts that took over the seat of government and blocked gas and other resources from the city.
Have you wondered who financed the families of Sonia, eight-year-old Marlene, and the rest of the people seeking justice so far from their own land? Did you even wonder, or even dare to ask?
Claudia Sánchez-Bustamante
Miami
The kid sucks: Thomas Becker suffers from the typical myopia of the young: blind idealism. Whatever the intrinsic merits of the case, to force it through the prism of American ideals is one thing; to force it through our courts is another. With the standing to play out this case in the United States comes the responsibility to do so for others like it. The Wilsonian ideal that America is the font and driving force for justice has resulted in hundreds of thousands of young American men fighting and dying for others' causes. I read of Becker's musical work, his social justice adventures, his opportunity at Harvard — and not a word about military service. He is only one more of those whose toying with concepts and abstract notions means others not as fortunate will die in their service of his ideals. Becker disgusts me.
Steve Saulka
Phoenix
Stormin' Norman
And we don't mean Schwarzkopf: In response to Gus Garcia-Roberts's December 18 story "Bet on Braman": You go, Norman! Who the hell is going to travel to Little Havana to see a baseball game? The Marlins fan base is almost nonexistent unless the team is in the seventh game of the World Series. Let team ownership pay for the stadium, the road improvements, security requirements, etc. Don't put it on the back of this taxpayer. What's wrong with the citizens telling elected officials how to spend tax dollars via the ballot box?
Kevin
Miami
Stupid Free Weekly
Ignorant liberals: The so-called journalist who wrote the December 11 Riptide piece "Hey, Miami, You're Stupid" misses the point. Miami is better off this way. We are safe from terrorist attacks because, unfortunately, the world agrees with you. I'm totally kidding, but could the New Times do us political junkies a favor and stay out of politics? You guys just plagiarize MSNBC. Listen, I am an ultra-liberal, but comparing Jeb to his brother is just not fair. But I would expect nothing else from New Times.
Hire someone worth reading, or stop talking politics!
Carlos
Miami
