| "I'm a musician, you know..." said a delighted | | | | charango seems to be the gift of choice for celebrities |
| Condoleezza Rice while strumming the charango - an | | | | and dignitaries visiting Bolivia and Chile at the moment - |
| Andean five-string lacquered guitar - which the Bolivian | | | | U2's Bono recently received a similar guitar from |
| President had just presented to her.The occasion was | | | | Chile's President Ricardo Lagos.Condoleezza's claim to |
| a meeting between the U.S. Secretary of State and | | | | be a musician is certainly well-founded - even her |
| Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous President, in | | | | name has a musical origin - con dolcezza - an |
| Valparaiso, Chile.The presentation of the guitar no | | | | indication to play a piece of music 'with sweetness'.She |
| doubt provided Rice with some light relief at the end of | | | | is the most accomplished musician ever to work in the |
| a 25-minute meeting to discuss drug policy, part of a | | | | White House. Coming from several generations of |
| gruelling nine-day diplomacy trip encompassing Chile, | | | | pianists, she began learning the instrument at the age |
| Indonesia and Australia.What she didn't realize at the | | | | of three, and at age fifteen won a competition in |
| time was that the beautiful Bolivian charango guitar, | | | | Denver for her performance of Mozart's D minor |
| hand-crafted with five pairs of strings, was inlaid with | | | | Piano Concerto. At one point she even considered a |
| coca leaves.Coca was always bound to be high on | | | | career as a concert pianist.Well, it is believed that |
| the agenda - Morales came to political prominence as | | | | Condi Rice's charango guitar didn't make it onto the |
| leader of farmers campaigning for more freedom to | | | | plane back to Washington - perhaps the coca leaf |
| grow coca - the principal ingredient in cocaine, but also | | | | inlay would have created too many problems at U.S. |
| used in many legal products such as traditional | | | | Customs!Charles Village is owner and webmaster of |
| medicines and in certain teas.The fight against cocaine | | | | For great articles and resources about all aspects of |
| is the source of much friction between the U.S.A. and | | | | playing and learning the guitar, click here to visit Village |
| Bolivia, the world's third largest cocaine producer.The | | | | Guitar now: - learn to play guitar online. |