Taliban in Ecuador

Taliban Brothel in Ecuador

I just received the following transmission from Stubbs. It is from his-friend-Mike who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru:

————–
Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Brooklyn, New York City- November 2, 2008
Travelogue — Travel Photos
————–

I laughed when I saw the photo that was attached to the email:

Photo from Mike, the Elegant Panther.

I can remember my friend Andy the Hobotraveler.com talking to me about this place last spring in Guatemala.

“I am thinking, what are the Ecuadorians up to; this is really a strange sign,” Andy wrote on, Taliban Discovered in Huaquillas Ecuador, his post about checking out the Taliban themed business. “I am in a very organized place where women work selling their bodies,” he continued, “Everywhere in this highly organized business, there are Taliban and Osama Bin Laden drawing and advertisements. The theme of the place is the Taliban.”

So, what do I think of the Taliban in Ecuador? Well, to start I say that it is a sign that the Taliban image sells products, including women, apparently. I can remember traveling in South America in 2001, 2002, and 2003 and seeing the Taliban and Bin Laden “logos” all over shirts and other advertisements. Perhaps this was an initial reaction against US imperialism? But more likely I think that this is just another testament to that fact that if an image is rampantly all over the US television it can be a worthy advertisement all over the world. I am unsure if real literal meaning has anything to do with this.

“The rise of the image, the fall of meaning.”

Related Pages:
Taliban Discovered in Huaquillas Ecuador
Song of the Open Road South America Label

Links to previous travelogue entries:

• Travelogue Directory Updated
• Asus Eee PC 12 gig XP Gift
• Original Eee PC Not Good for Traveling Webmasters