Other anecdotes of an Italian in Bolivia
At the request of the “respectable public”, I integrate my column of 15 days ago with other anecdotes related to my “being Italian” in Bolivia, trying, this time, to make some teachings more explicit. If pain is the spice of life, anecdotes, especially funny ones, are the honey of existence. For today’s article, I have […]
They have ears, but they don’t listen
Aging involves the gradual and irreversible loss of certain physical abilities, starting with hearing. Without being a disease, the process of progressive deafness is particularly annoying because of its effects on social relationships, much more so than other faculties that degrade with age. Not to mention when deafness manifests itself at an early age or […]
A reunion without memories
With Adalberto I shared in Italy the preparation for volunteering (learning the Spanish language and some of the history and problems of Latin America) and, now in Bolivia – the country that we both chose to carry out our civil service on behalf of the Italian government -, we lived together in El High, for […]
What can Bolivia expect from MERCOSUR?
Bolivia is finally a full member of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) amid the skepticism of foreign trade experts. And no wonder. We entered a free trade zone like dwarfs in an NBA game. For example: our macroeconomic indicators (annual and per capita GDP, debt and deficit as a percentage of GDP) compete with Venezuela […]
Economic damage to the state
I find great ambiguity in the concept of “Economic Damage to the State” (EDS), which in general terms is the affectation of state assets by officials and authorities, but which has become a reason for political persecution. EDS is one of the most common offenses in a society that idolizes the state and usually manifests […]
Parole, parole, parole
The title is the same as a famous Italian song from the 70s and takes up in full a recent interview that the interim president of YPFB Armin Dorgathen Tapia (ADT) gave to Brújula Digital, a media that published it in summary form on January 18th. In truth, in that “bikini” speech (showing a lot […]
Blessings in the Church
Following the controversy raised by the Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by Pope Francis, I have read the nine pages of that Declaration which deals with the meaning and scope of blessings within the Catholic Church. According to the document, from the most ancient texts […]
An American Dream
On April 18, 1906, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook the city of San Francisco, causing deaths, devastation, looting, and burning of that city’s precarious wooden dwellings. For weeks, due to the chaos and fires that had neutralized the large safes, the city’s banks remained closed. All but one, the Bank of Italy, owned by Amadeo […]