I Am Rich Potosi The Mountain That Eats Men

The magnificent mountain of Potosi in Bolivia yielded more silver than any other mountain or region of the world. In the 16th and 17th centuries this wealth flowed through Spain into Europe and played an important role in the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution and trade with Asia. Yet the grueling work of extracting the silver was left to the indigenous population of the Andes, who were enslaved by the Spanish and died by the thousands on the mountain.

Stephen Ferry is a freelance photojournalist based in New York. He is a member of the Gamma-Liaison Agency and has spent the last ten years traveling on assignments covering social change and historic events throughout the world. Ferry studied Latin American culture and history in college, and has continued to concentrate on the region. Since 1991 he has returned yearly to Potosf.

Eduardo Galeano is an eminent Uruguayan historian of Latin America. He has been extremely influential as an exponent of Latin American popular culture and history.