THE HEART THAT BLEEDS: Latin America Now...

THE HEART THAT BLEEDS: Latin America Now by Alma Guillermoprieto (Vintage: $13; 345 pp.). These essays showcase Guillermoprieto’s ability to find offbeat details that provide insights into larger situations: The war against drug traffickers in Colombia during the late ‘80s benefited the glass fitters in Bogota, who had to replace windows shattered by bombs on a daily basis. She documents the unexpected emergence of Alberto Fujimori as a presidential candidate in Peru, political and soap opera scandals in Brazil, and the shifting political fortunes of the bosses who control the garbage dumps in Mexico City. Guillermoprieto enlivens potentially dry material with vivid turns of phrase: “Unhappily, it cannot be said that Collor (Brazilian president Fernando Collor de Mello) was the sleaziest, most shameless con man ever spawned in the swamps of Latin-American politics, because the competition is too stiff.” Intelligent background reading for anyone concerned about the region.