A few days ago I finished an interesting little novel titled American
Visa by Juan de Recacoechea. It was a winner of Bolivia’s National Book Prize. It’s
been made into a Spanish-language movie, with English subtitles. While I haven’t
seen the movie, I did watch the trailer for it on YouTube. From it I get the
impression the screen adaptation took a great many liberties with the script –
way too many.
The book is a mystery, and a sad comedy. The main character is Mario Alvarez,
a high school teacher often called “the Professor.” He’s originally from Uyuni
in the south of Bolivia, but has lived his adult life in Oruro, just south of
the capital of La Paz. The book includes a map of Bolivia for those of us new
to the geography.
Before the book begins, Mario’s wife has abandoned him and their
son, running off to Argentina to “find herself.” The son has also moved on,
immigrating to the U.S. back when immigration policies toward South Americans
weren’t quite as absurd as they are today. The story begins when Mario receives
a letter from his son asking him to join him in Miami. Obtaining the American visa needed to go “visit”
his son becomes the crux of the story.
Mario gathers all of the documentation he will need, says goodbye to a
lifetime of friends, and heads to the American Consulate in La Paz to apply for
the visa. Only at the last moment does he realize the Americans will actually
seek to verify the authenticity of his forged documents (one must prove, among other
things, net assets of over $50,000) – he leaves before the interview begins.
The rest of the novel details how he attempts to gain the visa through bribery.
While the book is a mystery (his favorite
author is Raymond Chandler), it also serves as a significant commentary on Bolivian politics, the
drug trade, and their intersection; military and patronage politics; and crippling poverty
& unemployment … not to mention immigration policy.
There are, of course, multiple subplots revolving around his fellow guests at
The Hotel California (I kid you not) in La Paz, and his developing relationship with a
prostitute named Blanca - all of which are interesting, yet definitely not the
tales that would be approved by the Bolivia’s Tourism Bureau.
Recommendation: Not a world classic, but an interesting read for those
of us who know little to nothing about Bolivia.
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