Miner, Potosi, Bolivia.
They all chew cocoa leaves all of the time. In the end their cheeks bulge like they had the mumps.
Their altitude of about 4000 meter above sea level makes these mines probably the highest situated mines in the world.
The silver is shipped to Spain at a phenomenal value.
Some of these men became miners at the age of 12.
Eight million died in the Potosi Mines, the vast, vast majority being Native American slaves brought from all over the Americas (and a relatively small number of African slaves) !!!!
(official Bolivian numbers/wikipedia).
Gaucho, Uruguay.
South-American «cowboys».
In the 18th and 19th century a gaucho used to be a migratory cattle worker and a skilled horseman; a South American cowboy every bit as legendary in South America as his North American counterpart.
The 21st century gaucho is typically a farmer and family man.
Back in the day their slogan was: no boss, no family, no God.
Today, gauchos are a dying breed.
