April 17,
2001
Down the River
With Vladimir Putin
A couple of years ago Vladimir Putin
journeyed to the American Southwest to take his natural son on
an initiation ritual. The boy's mother is now an American citizen.
First stop was a big game ranch in Texas, where Putin and Jr
blasted zebras, antelopes and bison. Apparently, Putin, reenacting
a scene out of Mailer's Why Are We In Vietnam, marked his son's
forehead in the blood of one of these hapless creatures.
Then it was on to Moab, Utah,
for a raft trip down Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River, one
of the world's most demanding stretches of whitewater. The Moab
river guide community is still shaking its head from its close
encounter with the Russian president and former KGB man. "We
get a lot of whacked-out people coming down the river, but Putin
really is a dangerous guy, a real mobster," a guide told
CounterPunch in late March.
"His packs were loaded
with guns, vodka and tens of thousands of dollars in cash,"
the guide said. "He seemed to be a little on edge. It was
during a time when it was unclear what was going to happen to
the Yeltsin government. He was a real bully. He was drunk much
of the time and bossed people around as if they were his personal
slaves. His son caught a channel catfish and they slapped it
down in front of the guide and demanded that it be cooked up
immediately."
Cataract Canyon is in the heart
of Canyonlands National Park, one of the most dramatic landscapes
in the world. But Putin and son were soon bored with the redrock
canyons and class five rapids. "By the third day, Putin
was demanding that the guides call in a helicopter to have his
party picked up and flown out. Then he got drunk and started
bragging about how many people he had personally killed. More
than 40."
The rafts finally exited Cataract
and motored across 30 miles of Lake Powell's flat water to the
marina complex known as Hite. The old town of Hite now lies submerged
under 200 feet of water. The next step on the Putins' tour was
supposed to be a four-wheeler excursion tearing up the desert
in the bizarre Needles District of Canyonlands Park. But Putin
opted for a more traditional form of initiation for his son,
straight out of Notes from the Underground. From the Hite marina,
he placed a call to Las Vegas.
"We want some whores,"
Putin shouted into his cellphone. "Price is no object."
CP
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