Whispering in the Giant's Ear A Frontline Chronicle from Bolivia's War on Globalization

Long the obscure "Tibet of South America," in the last few years Bolivia has emerged as a world flashpoint. CNN and the New York Times have shown images of Aymara women in bowler hats standing down tanks; citizen protests have ousted multinationals and two pro-globalization presidents. In December 2005 Bolivians elected the first fully Indian president in the hemisphere. As an aid worker, William Powers has been an eyewitness-and frequent participant-as this resource-rich, money-poor country has struggled to save its Indian culture and its extraordinary rainforest, proving that an impoverished Third World country can be green.

William Powers has worked for over a decade in development aid in Latin America, Africa, Washington, D.C., and Native North America. His project in the Bolivian Amazon won the 2003 Harvard University JFK School prize for innovation. He is author of the Liberia memoir Blue Clay People, and contributor to two recent books on tropical biodiversity. His essays have appeared in the New York Times and International Herald Tribune, and he provides commentary for World Vision Radio and NPR. Powers, who is still based in Bolivia, is 2004-2005 recipient of the Open Door Foundation fellowship for nonfiction