Karma, and Rebirth

Uruguyan author Eduardo Galeano in an interview with Scott Witmer, speaks on why we need to remind ourselves of being born again- because we have a long tradition of being betrayed.

Just look at Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia. Bolivia was the richest country in all of the Americas at the beginning of the conquest period. They were the owners of the silver, which made possible the enrichment of Europe. Bolivia is now the poorest country in South America. Her richness was her main damnation. Morales is now trying to break with this shameful and humiliating tradition of always working for another's prosperity. When he nationalized the gas and the oil, it was a scandal all over the world. "How could he? It's terrible!" Why is it terrible? Because recovering dignity is a cardinal sin. But he's also committing another cardinal sin: He's doing what he promised he would do. We in Latin America are suffering with special intensity the divorce between words and facts. When you say yes, you do no. When you say more or less, you do less or more. So facts and words are never encountering each other. When they pass each other by random accident, they don't say, "Hello, how are you?" because they have never met before. We are trained to lie. We are trained to accept lies as a way of life.

Tags: Bolivia, Eduardo Galeano, Evo Morales, Latin America, Latin American Literature

Technorati Tags: Bolivia, Eduardo Galeano, Evo Morales, Latin America, Latin American Literature