But with economic growth slowing and a decline in oil prices limiting the reach of its top patron, Venezuela, it remains unclear how Bolivia can achieve this on its own.
"We already have extensive oil dealings with a monarchy in Saudi Arabia, a failed state in Nigeria and Venezuela, which is Cuba's top patron," said Jonathan Benjanin-Alvarado, an expert on Cuba's energy industry at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Members of the Walton family, founders of the Walmart chain, gave over $200,000, while Bob Perry -- a wealthy home builder who has long been the top patron of Mr. Romney's erstwhile rival, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas -- chipped in $500,000 in early December.
Smith's top patron during his nearly 30 years in office has been the oil and gas industry, including Koch Industries and Valero Energy, which has plied him with more than $610,000 in campaign contributions.
Enron and its chairman and chief executive, Kenneth L. Lay, have been the top patrons of Mr. Bush's political career since his first campaign for Congress in 1978.
The Post identified donations from roughly 336,000 individuals, corporations, unions and foreign governments in support of their political or philanthropic endeavors — a list that includes top patrons such as Steven Spielberg and George Soros, as well as lesser-known backers who have given smaller amounts dozens of times.
"Patrons who sign up are given benefits in exchange for their generosity, like monthly Google Hangouts with the top patrons, presale concert tickets, access to the artist's stream (like a Facebook feed where fans and artists can post and share media, comments, etc)., or anything an artist is willing to give back".
What started as a huge (but extremely private) thank-you for the top patrons of our kickass 150 percent-funded ATD Kickstarter campaign has morphed into a rollicking benefit to raise the funds to build out our premium online search and discovery platform in order to make the hundreds of hours of interview footage with innovators we've captured over the past 3 years an open online resource.
And Hillary Clinton's top political patron, entertainment titan Haim Saban, called for "more scrutiny" of Muslims for ties to terrorism.
The Post investigation found that many top Clinton patrons supported them in multiple ways, helping finance their political causes, their legal needs, their philanthropy and their personal bank accounts.
Last fall, Korean design team everyware debuted their project Soak, Dye in Light, essentially a table with a stretchy fabric top that patrons are encouraged to bend and stretch.
