Yankee Go Home - The Story of Anti-Americanism in Latin America

      I know where I’m coming from writing this book. I grew up in South America. I spent the better part of two decades in Venezuela and Ecuador before attending college in the United States. My father worked for major oil companies – companies that were subsequently nationalized and companies later accused of leaving behind legacies of environmental and social injustice. After college, I followed in my father’s footsteps and, just like him, I worked for oil companies. I did this because I loved life as an expatriate in South America, and it seemed like the best ticket back. I did it because I wanted my children to experience what I did. So, before re-inventing myself as a writer, I spent most of my career living or working in other South American countries such as Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia. I can honestly say I’ve been there and done that.

      But a funny thing happened. When I moved with my family to Buenos Aires in the early 1990’s, I found out that things had changed. Things were no different when I took my family with me to Bolivia ten years later. I didn’t feel welcome and soon realized that I really wasn’t welcome. I wasn’t feeling the love. It hadn’t been like this when I was growing up in the oilfield camps of Venezuela or in the mountains of Ecuador. Back then, things were great. Everybody loved me – especially the locals. I spoke Spanish like a native. I was practically one of them, appearances aside. So it came as a big surprise – as an adult and father of three boys – to realize that things may have always been this way. The locals may never have liked me, may never have liked us – los gringos, los Yanquis.

      In fact, they didn’t, and still don’t, like Americans. I realize this now, and it makes me sad. I like them. Why don’t they like me? And just what are these things that I thought had changed, but have always been there? Well, that’s the million dollar question, and one that I hope to answer with this book. I’m hoping that my findings will help me, you, and them understand why anti-Americanism is so prevalent in Latin America. I’m hoping that, with a better understanding of what is at the root of this animosity, we might be able to make some changes. I’m hoping that my children’s children may enjoy the experience of growing up as Americans in a Latin America where things are good. This book is about those things.