Open Veins of Latin America
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| Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent | |
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| Author | Eduardo Galeano |
| Original title | Las venas abiertas de América Latina |
| Translator | Cedric Belfrage |
| Country | Uruguay |
| Language | tr. into English |
| Genre(s) | Essay |
| Publisher | Monthly Review Press |
| Published in English |
1973 (1st edition) January 1, 1997 (25 Anv edition) |
| Pages | 317 |
| ISBN | 978-0853459910 |
| OCLC Number | 37820142 |
| Dewey Decimal | 330.98 21 |
| LC Classification | HC125 .G25313 1997 |
| Las venas abiertas de América Latina | |
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| Author | Eduardo Galeano |
| Language | Spanish |
| Publisher | Siglo XXI Editores |
| Pages | 384 |
| ISBN | 84-323-1145-6 1417594497 9781417594498 978-9682319006 |
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent (in Spanish Las venas abiertas de América Latina) is an essay written by Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano in 1971.
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[edit] Summary
In Open Veins of Latin America Galeano analyzes the history of Latin America as a whole from the time period of the European discovery of the New World to contemporary Latin America, arguing against European and later US economic exploitation and political dominance over the region. The Library Journal review stated, "Well written and passionately stated, this is an intellectually honest and valuable study".[1]
[edit] Background
Open Veins of Latin America was written by Eduardo Galeano in Uruguay in 1971. During this period Galeano was working as a journalist, editing books, and was employed in the publishing department of the University of the Republic. Galeano states that "it took four years of researching and collecting the information I needed, and some 90 nights to write the book".[2] Shortly after the publishing of Open Veins of Latin America, in 1973, a military junta took power in Uruguay forcing Galeano into exile. As a result of the book's left-wing perspective it was banned under the right-wing military governments of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.
[edit] Gift to Obama
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez gave United States President Barack Obama a copy of Open Veins of Latin America as a gift at the 5th Summit of the Americas.[3][4] The Associated Press reported that "Obama may not read book gift", saying that Obama has other books to read and that he doesn't read Spanish.[5] However, an English translation exists. During the 2009 annual White House Correspondents dinner, Obama, in his speech said the following in subtle reference to the book given to him by Chávez: "Now, let me be clear, just because he handed me a copy of Peter Pan does not mean that I'm going to read it -- (laughter) -- but it's good diplomatic practice to just accept these gifts".[6]
As a result of this international exposure, the book's sales are reported to have risen sharply—it was the 54,295th most popular book on Amazon.com on one day, but it moved to #2 on the list a day later.[7][8]
A few days later, Chávez stated that he had a new book for President Barack Obama. The next gift would be What is to be Done? by Vladimir Lenin. According to Chavez, he'll give it to Obama at their next meeting.[9]
[edit] Cultural significance in Latin America
In the foreword for the 1997 edition, Isabel Allende, Chilean novelist and cousin of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, sayed that "after the military coup of 1973 I could not take much with me: some clothes, family pictures, a small bag of dirt from my garden, and two books: an old edition of the Odes by Pablo Neruda and the book with the yellow cover, Las venas abiertas de América Latina".[10]
The book was banned in the 1970s by the right-wing military dictatorships in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Writer Without Borders" July 14, 2006 In These Times
- ^ "Chavez presents Obama with a gift". BBC News. 2009-04-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8006556.stm. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ "Chavez, Clinton discuss possible normalization of diplomatic relations". Xinhua. 2009-04-18. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/19/content_11212167.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Obama may not read book gift, Associated Press, 2009
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Sales Soar of Book Chavez Gave Obama". ABC News. 2009-04-18. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/04/sales-soar-of-b.html. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ "Amazon.com Bestsellers: The most popular items in Book". Amazon.com. 2009-04-19. http://www.webcitation.org/5gAPzDk0u. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ Chavez: My Next Gift For Obama Will Be Lenin Book The Huffington Post, May 30 2009
- ^ Isabel Allende (April 1997). "The Open Veins of Latin America". Monthly Review. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1132/is_n11_v48/ai_19693240/pg_3/. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ^ [3]
[edit] External links
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