Viva South America! (eBook)

Simon Bolvar once inspired a continent to rise from serfdom and throw off the shackles of Spanish rule. With lance and law book, he and his fellow Liberators set the course for independence, freedom and equality. Viva South America! sets out to discover if that dream lives on. Is it fair to describe a land as 'independent' while poverty still enslaves millions, where violence lurks in the shadows and where lawlessness gnaws away at progress? Did the Liberators fail? Or are leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chvez and Bolivia's Evo Morales resurrecting those long-ago ideals? Armed with a reporter's notebook and an open mind, the author hits the road in search of answers. Cutting a path along the highways and byways of the continent, this book lifts the lid on the Liberators' legacies and sniffs behind their modern-day statues. With the ghost of Bolvar as guide, the quest takes the reader off the tourist trail and into the weird and wonderful worlds of South American culture and society. By stepping into people's homes and into inmates' prison cells, by climbing on to dance floors and over road blocks, Oliver Balch unearths untold stories from the front line of South America's contemporary fight for freedom.

---

Sim,n Bol,var once inspired a continent to rise from serfdom and throw off the shackles of Spanish rule. Viva South America! sets out to discover if the dream of Sim,n Bol,var - for independence, freedom and equality - lives on in modern South America.Armed with a reporter's notebook and an open mind, Oliver Balch hits the road in search of answers. With the ghost of Sim,n Bol,var as guide, the quest takes the reader off the tourist trail and into the weird and wonderful worlds of South American culture and society. By stepping into people's homes and into inmates' prison cells, by climbing onto dance floors and over road blocks, Oliver Balch unearths untold stories from the front line of South America's contemporary fight for freedom. Oliver Balch is a UK freelance journalist, whose work has appeared in a wide range of international publications, including the Guardian, the Financial Times and the Traveller. Viva South America! was shortlisted as 'Book of the Year' at the UK Travel Press Awards and his latest book is the critically acclaimed India Rising: Tales From A Changing Nation.