“It is unbelievable they are so poor, when their country is so rich,” is the usual refrain for countries like Bolivia, which might have the poorest citizens in the Americas and which also hides enormous amounts of natural gas beneath its soil. The same can be said of Venezuela or other Latin American countries, immersed in an exuberant and ferocious environment. How can some societies be so poor and live in lands so “rich” in natural resources?