It would appear slaves still exist in some parts of the world. I made this hiddious discovery during my recent visit to Bolivia. The epicenter of my investigation is a farm in the countryside near Cochabamba, where workers are forced to face an inhumane destiny due to a debt trap, thought out by the landowner -a charlatan more concerned about his income than the health and well being of his employees. Though one of the local girls is missing no one seems willing to talk about it and fear is obviously an emense factor around theese parts. The locals sneek around the bushes too scared to risk their lives by talking to a stranger, especially a reporter. In light of police corruption, poverty and death threats their silence is quite understandable. Many of the workers have disappeared without a trace in the past and only a few don't fear to be the next missing person on the milk carton. However, with wit and charme I managed to retrieve the full story and locate the missing girl on a bench in the Bolivian capitol, La Paz. It seems the landowner send her away, petrified that she would cooperate with a local human rights organization. This fate is all to often the result of voicing an opinion different from the boss'. But this time the boss made a mistake of biblical proportions. He underestimated the power of press leverage as he agreed to a final interview with me. As the evening turned to night I had him nailed down to his chair with arguments, statement and facts that rendered him incoherent with fear. Justified fear, that is. By the end of the session it became clear to both of us that his slave whipping days were over. Only too dumb to realize that he would have to face all kinds of law and every single paragraf known since the dawn of mandkind, he greeted me goodby after answering my last question. Indeed, when the lawyers are done, he'll be exposed to the kind of justice that makes it worth my while. This time I have the feeling his workers will be paid in full.