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Open Veins of Latin America

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Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
File:Open Veins of Latin America.jpg
AuthorEduardo Galeano
Original titleLas venas abiertas de América Latina
TranslatorCedric Belfrage
Languagetr. into English
GenreEssay
PublisherMonthly Review Press
Publication placeUruguay
Published in English
January 1, 1997
(25 Anv edition)
Pages317
ISBN978-0853459910
Las venas abiertas de América Latina
AuthorEduardo Galeano
LanguageSpanish
PublisherSiglo XXI Editores
Pages384
ISBN[[Special:BookSources/84-323-1145-6%3Cbr+%2F%3E1417594497%3Cbr+%2F%3E9781417594498%3Cbr+%2F%3E978-9682319006 |84-323-1145-6
1417594497
9781417594498
978-9682319006]] Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character

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.

In the foreword for the 1997 edition, Chilean novelist and close relative of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, Isabel Allende says 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 America Latina."

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 U.S. 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]

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 Montevideo. 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 during the military governments of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

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]

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 had moved to #2 a day later.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "Writer Without Borders" July 14, 2006 In These Times
  3. ^ "Chavez presents Obama with a gift". BBC News. 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  4. ^ "Chavez, Clinton discuss possible normalization of diplomatic relations". Xinhua. 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  5. ^ "Sales Soar of Book Chavez Gave Obama". ABC News. 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  6. ^ "Amazon.com Bestsellers: The most popular items in Book". Amazon.com. 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
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