Cocalero

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Product Details

Director : Alejandro Landes
Actor : Alvaro Garcia Lineras, Javier Escalas
Format : NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Aspect Ratio : 1.66:1
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0720229913010
Product Group : DVD
Release Date : 2007-12-26
Studio : First Run Features
UPC : 720229913010

ASIN : B000WS6Y9Q

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Customer Reviews

Unexpected revelations, essential viewing (2008-10-18)

Many in the media were caught off guard when a humble, "uneducated" indigenous man became president of Bolivia. What was his secret? Alejandro Landes gets behind it and reveals something even more surprising: it was Evo Morales's activism as a cocalero (coca grower) and unionist that set him on the road to becoming Bolivia's first true indigenous president. How could farming a plant so infamous in the First World be the key to Third World success? Landes again ferrets it out: Coca is sacred to the indigenous peoples of the Andes. In its natural state, it is nonaddictive and safe for consumption; people chew its leaves every day to stave off hunger and thirst, as well as high-altitude sickness. A study by no less than Harvard University has found it to be nutritious, as well, and recommended it as food. This is no news to the indigenous of Bolivia; they've known for centuries that it was good for them. They value it so highly that they make offerings of it to Pachamama, Mother Earth. Which is why they rebelled so strongly against the US's efforts at coca eradication in the Chapare, the tropical lowland coca-growing region where Evo first became a farmer. Here, Landes unearths another revelation: Evo started out growing rice. Then, after the "capitalization" of the 1980s and '90s, when rice became impossible to earn a living from, it was bananas; then, when the price of those sank through the floor, it was coca. Thanks to the drug wars, coca became the only plant that paid its growers enough to live on. And since the US wasn't helping with alternative crops, the cocaleros became militant when "zero coca" became the policy. Clashes with the army led to deaths. Amid the widespread discredit of the "democratic" regimes who bowed to US policymakers, Evo rose through the ranks, going from unionist to congressman to presidential candidate.Landes deals with this background briefly but concisely, focusing mainly on the presidential campaign of 2005. By that point, Evo's critical mass had risen to the point where he had become unstoppable. He was elected with 54% of the popular vote--the highest of any Bolivian president in history.Even more interesting, it wasn't just the coca growers and the indigenous who made that "unthinkable" event a reality. Landes takes us to some surprising pockets of Evo support, including the prosperous city of Santa Cruz, supposedly a hotbed of anti-Evo sentiment. Evo himself seems surprised that he was invited to speak there, as he addresses a capacity crowd at a fundraising dinner in a fancy hotel. But he rises to the occasion, and at the end, everyone is lining up to shake his hand and have their picture taken with him. A businessman even says, "I like your ideology. You have my vote." Other shots reveal the crowd to be mainly white and mestizo. This revealing scene belies the current trend of reporting on Bolivia as "racially polarized" and Evo as "anti-business". Challenging myths about coca, Bolivia and Evo Morales all at the same time, Cocalero is essential viewing for believers and skeptics alike.

Pesimo trabajo (2007-12-05)

Si logro seguir varios meses a Evo pero lo unico que hizo el realizador Alejandro Landes fue recopilar horas y horas de video, y luego hacer copy y paste hasta completar 90 min. Le falta edicion, y si no se conoce la historia con anterioridad no se entiende que ocurre.

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