When I saw the headline of Bolivians amputating thieves' hands, it reminded me of the eye-for-an-eye style of justice often seen in Islamic countries; the article-writer went that route-
The cutting off of hands has been used around the world for centuries as a way to punish thieves. Under Islamic law, the punishment is sometimes used part of Hdud and usually refers to the class of punishments that are fixed for certain crimes that are considered to be "claims of God."
Just a few months ago, a thief convicted of theft in war-torn Mali had his hand cut off by one of the radical Islamist groups controlling the northern part of the country.
The other rough justice technique to come out of the Andes is chemical castration-"the administration of medication designed to reduce libido and sexual activity." That would actually be less harsh than having your hand cut off, but your mileage may vary.
The more civilized version of libido-reduction goes back a couple of decades. I recall a case in Michigan in the 80s where a sex offender got treated with Depo-Provera; that lead to the op-ed cartoon in the CMU student newspaper of a gal at the bar, saying "Give this man a shot... of Depo-Provera."
Bolivia is supposed to be a progressive country; its president is in the Hugo Chavez school of populist-leftists, especially big on getting power to the indigenous folks who've gotten crapped on worse than the First Nations/Native American folks in North America. However, leftist doesn't always mean progressive, since a lot of the grace and mercy that is at play in Christian thought can go out the window when we throw that out with the colonial bathwater.
Comments