Touching the Jaguar

New York Times bestselling author John Perkins tells the dramatic story of how his experiences with shamans in Ecuador and Guatemala transformed him from an economic hit man to a dedicated decolonizer–and how anyone can overcome fear and take action.

As a young Peace Corps volunteer dying in Ecuador, John Perkins was saved by a shaman who taught him to touch the jaguar –to change his perception of what he feared and transform it into energy for positive action. Then he became an economic hit man, convincing developing countries to build huge projects that put them perpetually in debt to the World Bank and other US-controlled institutions–a new form of colonialism. Returning to the Amazon and seeing the damage foreign companies had done opened his eyes to the destructive impact of his work. In this book, for the first time, Perkins details the powerful influence shamanism had on his transformation to decolonizer. He discusses his work with native people in Latin America, including a previously uncontacted Amazonian tribe that touched the jaguar by uniting with its traditional enemies against invading oil and mining companies. Perkins also provides a strategy for us to overcome our fears, decolonize our minds, and collaborate in new ways to heal the wounds inflicted on our planet.