Chile Forum

greg~judy wrote:perhaps p~x may go attend a few of these riots...

Spang wrote:

patagoniax wrote:

john wrote:nwdiver,

Oh, I get the "seawater" just fine but it doesn't excuse his insensitivity.

It isn't "insensitivity " so much as a well developed and widely appreciated sense of humour, which the forum needs in greater measure. But if it's vacuous sensitivity you're seeking, there are kinder, gentler, and emptier places to visit.

It's still in very poor taste considering Chile's history.

seawolf180 wrote:
And keep an eye on your car.

patagoniax wrote:.
As everybody seems to know, coca leaf is really the second most significant product of Bolivia.

The first place goes to stolen cars.

It's no surprise that many Argentine and Chilean rental companies won't allow a vehicle to be taken into Bolivia, since the probability of it being stolen there is so great. Likewise a vehicle stolen in Chile can easily end up in the hands of some cholo in Bolivia.

Now, Bolivia is showing the world its responsible and civilised face, and the true black heart of both its national character and present leadership, by making it easier for Bolivian car thieves and their customers to "legalise" their ill-gotten vehicles.

Yesterday the Bolivian congress approved a bill which provides an "amnesty" for tens of thousands of stolen vehicles that are now (or soon will be) inside Bolivia. The bill was sponsored by none other than Bolivian president Evo Morales (" Morales" being sometimes translated as "morals" - though not in the Bolivian dialects). The legalisation of stolen foreign property for the lower classes of Bolivia was reportedly part of Evo's social programme.

Stolen vehicles famously end up in the hands of Bolivian officials, including a former chief of police, Ciro Farfán. What is interesting about this new measure is that there is no effective provision to identify and return the stolen vehicles that belong to persons outside of Bolivia. Evo takes great pride in this new law, knowing he is the hero of every Bolivian thief.

Transportation organisations inside Bolivia indicated that the amnesty could affect up to 100,000 vehicles that were stolen inside Bolivia itself as well as those stolen in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and other countries, and smuggled into Bolivia.

Welcome to Bolivia, where officially condoning felony theft is just another social programme.

admin wrote:..they have retained a heavy hitting French law firm,

Chile did deny them the ocean access promised in the treaty.

Bolivia has in the past utilized Ilo as a free gate to the ocean for both recreational and trade purposes.

The Peruvian government has granted a 99 year lease to the government of landlocked Bolivia to develop a port facility, in effect allowing Bolivia to claim to be a "Pacific Ocean nation".

Bolivia lost an earlier claim to a portion of Pacific coast after going to war with Chile in the 19th century.

greg~judy wrote:
Bolivia has in the past utilized Ilo as a free gate to the ocean for both recreational and trade purposes.