You are asked to produce a documentary on the informal sector of the Bolivian economy; another on the peasants on the Plateau; and a third one on immigration to the jungle from the mountains.

You take your cameras and go.

You go to the ceiling of the world.

You find yourself at the heart of the continent at 4.500 mts. above sea level. Drought, soil that is not soil. Desperate people in poverty who dream of emigrating to the city.

You go to the city, craftsmen that re-invent clothes "made in USA", electric appliances "made in Japan", they re-invent consumption and consumables. Those that produce, sell, and market their products.They do not declare or pay taxes. They live in a subterranean economy, however they represent 50 % of the nation's financial capital. They dream of emigrating from Bolivia.

You go to the jungle and come across miners whose mines have been privatized, and who emigrate to conquer the unknown. Colonizing, slashing and burning woods in a desperate attempt at having a bit of land to call their own, in this last frontier.

A change of geography and the tragedy remains the same.

The countries might be different, you can go to the northeast of Brazil, to Chiapas in Mexico, or anywhere in Central America, and the tragedy remains the same.

Nations with large natural resources, with people who live out their ancestral indigenous cultures surrounded by a hispanic world and now "made in...", inmersed in their humility.

You take out your camera and go.

You discover that the dignity of these people can be captured in a photograph.

Because that's what it's all about, the dignity of these people.
Daniel Caselli
Daniel Caselli lives and works in Montevideo, Uruguay
and can be reached at:
e-mail: caselli.daniel@gmail.com