This film is a documentary about how a group of American political consultants, led by James Carville, helped elect a president in Bolivia.
It is a cliché that colonialism is a natural byproduct of the industrial revolution. The need for export to foreign markets seems to include our political machinations. What else are political consultants going to do in off years? This film is outstanding if only for the fact that the cameras rolled everywhere; we get to see some very private moments with both the consultants and their clients.
What is most shocking about this film is how out of touch their candidate is, a fact which seems to phase the consultants not at all. Their advice to him is right on ("You have to act quickly after the election") but the obvious incompetence of their man does not really register with the Americans. Once he's elected, he raises taxes on the poor masses, who have already been protesting in the streets for months, and who then riot, burn buildings, and get massacred by the army. Duh! It's a real Marie Antoinette moment.
The only thing I felt was lacking from the film itself is some information on the second candidate (Manfred Reyes) though technically the filmmakers were not responsible for reporting on the other candidats. The third candidate was an obvious sleazeball (advocates the coca trade as a solution to Bolivia's problems) but the middle man was a mystery. Was he really a fascist? Where did his money come from? How sincere was he about anything? We don't really know. I wouldn't trust any of these creeps to watch my 50 cents while I left the room.
So if you want a good dose of how disastrous and pathetic Americans are when it comes to foreign countries, this film is a gold mine. In the age of Iraq it's kinda tame, but the principles are the same. It made a big impact on me. I walked around for a few days wondering what it would actually take to turn around a country as messed as Bolivia. I was also annoyed by how dependent Bolivians seem to be, looking to the government as their only solution. It's a different world out there, amigo.
It is a cliché that colonialism is a natural byproduct of the industrial revolution. The need for export to foreign markets seems to include our political machinations. What else are political consultants going to do in off years? This film is outstanding if only for the fact that the cameras rolled everywhere; we get to see some very private moments with both the consultants and their clients.
What is most shocking about this film is how out of touch their candidate is, a fact which seems to phase the consultants not at all. Their advice to him is right on ("You have to act quickly after the election") but the obvious incompetence of their man does not really register with the Americans. Once he's elected, he raises taxes on the poor masses, who have already been protesting in the streets for months, and who then riot, burn buildings, and get massacred by the army. Duh! It's a real Marie Antoinette moment.
The only thing I felt was lacking from the film itself is some information on the second candidate (Manfred Reyes) though technically the filmmakers were not responsible for reporting on the other candidats. The third candidate was an obvious sleazeball (advocates the coca trade as a solution to Bolivia's problems) but the middle man was a mystery. Was he really a fascist? Where did his money come from? How sincere was he about anything? We don't really know. I wouldn't trust any of these creeps to watch my 50 cents while I left the room.
So if you want a good dose of how disastrous and pathetic Americans are when it comes to foreign countries, this film is a gold mine. In the age of Iraq it's kinda tame, but the principles are the same. It made a big impact on me. I walked around for a few days wondering what it would actually take to turn around a country as messed as Bolivia. I was also annoyed by how dependent Bolivians seem to be, looking to the government as their only solution. It's a different world out there, amigo.