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Las Venas abiertas de América Latina

4.25 of 5 stars 4.25 · rating details · 3,162 ratings · 265 reviews

Since its U.S. debut a quarter-century ago, this brilliant text has set a new standard for historical scholarship of Latin America. It is also an outstanding political economy, a social & cultural narrative of the highest quality, & perhaps the finest description of primitive capital accumulation since Marx. Rather than chronology, geography or political succession...more

Published (first published January 1st 1970)

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Mar 10, 2009 Tucker rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eduardo Galeano passionately recounts the horrific events of the last 7 centuries in Latin America. I am neither a history buff nor Latino insider, so I discovered quite a bit, even as I concurrently traveled and experienced aspects of the region firsthand. It should be noted, however, that the author applies no science or organization to his storytelling. Facts are obviously molded for dramatic appeal (handpicking specific dates, excerpts from JFK speeches, etc.). Footnotes are lacking for a st...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Miquixote rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, non-fiction, classics, 65a, academic, a, intellectual-value-5, enjoyment-value-5, favourites

One of the best books ever written for a general audience...period. This guy writes fiction likes it's non-fiction and non-fiction likes it's fiction. He blends in and out better than anyone I know of. What beauty, what poetry, what defiance, what anger, what celebration, what satire, what humour. Sheer brilliance. Oh, and he does his research too.

Recommended related readings: Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Exterminate All the Brutes, Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, The Wretched of the Eart...more

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Apr 21, 2013 El Avestruz Liado rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An indispensable, albeit controversial, book to understand Latin America. A work of impressive scope, essentially the history of a whole continent. Just not to confuse anyone about the ideological orientation of the author, the book is printed (at least in my edition) with a nice red cover.

Now, jokes aside, some parts of the book are written in a rather loud tone which many will consider is borderline on propaganda but let me suggest to the adventurous reader to just ignore that and delve into...more An indispensable, albeit controversial, book to understand Latin America. A work of impressive scope, essentially the history of a whole continent. Just not to confuse anyone about the ideological orientation of the author, the book is printed (at least in my edition) with a nice red cover.

Now, jokes aside, some parts of the book are written in a rather loud tone which many will consider is borderline on propaganda but let me suggest to the adventurous reader to just ignore that and delve into the facts which are well researched and for which many references are given. Yes, many parts are controversial and Galeano frequently picks the interpretation that better fits his cause, but so what? This is not a PhD Thesis or the "History as Set On Stone for a Future Alien Civilization". Actually it defies classification as it is a mixture of essay and journalism covering topics not only in history but also in economics and sociology.

This is a dense book, I found that I could only process a subchapter at a single sitting (about 10-15 pages). Yet it is still quite accessible and any dedicated reader should be able to finish it. Some parts of it were unknown to me, and probably to most readers who are not from the involved countries. Take the Paraguayan War as an example, it is in terms relative to the population the bloodiest war in contemporary history (imagine a country-wide version of the The War of the End of the World) and yet, it is a widely unknown corner of history. If at least for the amount of historical and economical issues touched inside these pages it is worth reading, actually the chapter on the nature of international loans could had been easily written nowadays by just swapping the names of a few countries in for others in Europe.

The biggest issue with this book (other than the tone that seemed to scare a few other reviewers) is that I find the structure prone to repetition. You can learn how tin was extracted from Bolivia's mines in what were essentially slavery conditions just to produce one of the top 10 tycoons in the world at the time. Later, you can learn how silver was extracted... can you guess in which conditions or who got the lion's share of the profits? That is indeed a problem with any kind of systematic exploration of these kind of issues. What happened with the huge profits derived from natural resources in the continent? Well, we've got to see one by one and a pattern clearly emerges, and that is the linking thread of the book.

In resume: Massive amounts of information here presented by someone who clearly knows how to write while effortlessly crossing between topics and literary genres. Take it with a bit of salt and you can get a lot out of it. (less)

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Oct 24, 2010 Allen B. Lloyd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez presented President Obama with a copy Eduardo Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America during a summit meeting in 2009 the intellectually gouty noise machine of the bourgeoisie began to flap its collective jowls, calling the gift an insult to America, and Obama's acceptance of it a sign of his acquiescence to communist influences. The truths contained in the gift were essentially ignored by the right-wind punditry, because truth and history have no place in the...more

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Mar 31, 2010 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book out of curiosity—and interest in Latin America. I was advised that it was just rant or left-wing rant, but decided to see for myself. I came away with this as the main idea: “in Latin America, free enterprise is incompatible with civil liberties” as Galeano says in his commentary on the book in an afterward. The book catalogues the exploitation of “the people” —usually the indigenous people—by South American oligarchies and by their European and North American affiliates.
It’s ce...more I read this book out of curiosity—and interest in Latin America. I was advised that it was just rant or left-wing rant, but decided to see for myself. I came away with this as the main idea: “in Latin America, free enterprise is incompatible with civil liberties” as Galeano says in his commentary on the book in an afterward. The book catalogues the exploitation of “the people” —usually the indigenous people—by South American oligarchies and by their European and North American affiliates.
It’s certainly been a controversial book. First published in 1971 and often condemned and frequently banned in Latin America, I doubt it’s been on the radar in North American very long. The current edition was published in 1997 with a foreward by Isabel Allende. It’s been in the news recently when President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela gave a copy to Obama and then when commentators speculated on whether or not he would read it. Actually, I hope he did. (http://www.time.com/time/arts/article...)

My first impression was that Galeano’s detractors were right, the book was just rant. Galeano is a journalist and he knows how to use words to move readers. My impression was that every sentence in the first chapter had emotionally-loaded words. If his ideas hadn’t piqued my curiosity I might have put it down. Ensuing chapters might come to emotionally-loaded conclusions, but the presentation of evidence was impressive. I can’t endorse the ideas completely because I don’t know enough to evaluate everything he says, but I was impressed.

Galeano’s thesis is that the first the European conquerors (Spain and Portugal), later European business interests—mainly the British—and finally the US (government and business) have promised developmental assistance but delivered subservience largely by economic means—by keeping production costs low using raw materials and cheap labor from Latin American and then selling products for large profits, even selling them back to Latin American countries at the same time as they prevent them from producing their own products. In what seemed to me a telling comparison he contrasts conquistadors arriving in Latin American with the expectation of taking riches home to Europe with settlers in New England fleeing Europe and determined to grow their food and make the products they need for themselves—and to stay, not seek treasure to bring home. In what turned out to be an advantage for North America, there was no gold or silver, not even promising farms land so the British, in comparison to the Iberians, tended to ignore the colonies rather than plunder them.

In this idea, Galeano reminds me of Fareed Zakaria’s thesis in The Future of Freedom where he explains that wealth in the form of natural resources is actually a deterrent to democracy because it leads to a ruling class that appropriates the resources and uses them to develop the country (or to line their own pockets) rather than depending on the population to supply funds for the government in the form of taxes. Elections don’t mean much if the people doing the electing have no power. And clearly immigration to America took a far different path in the North than in the South. The result was the development of a growing middle class of local producers in North America--something that didn't happen in most Latin American countries which developed local oligarchies who themselves continued to be exploited by powerful patrons.

Galeano’s text is colorful and impressive, even for someone like me for whom the names and historical events are not familiar. He’s a master at creating powerful and memorable phrases than sum up (probably somewhat simplistically but I ended up thinking often right nonetheless) the problem. “Underdevelopment in South America is a result of development elsewhere”, “ a Volkswagen Republic is much like a banana republic”, “nationalization doesn’t necessarily redistribute wealth”. Over and over again he talks about the wealth concentrated among an oligarchy and the widespread poverty at the bottom that has characterized many Latin American countries for centuries, making it clear over and over again that “the outposts pay the price for the wealth of the centers”. The centers were usually the ports that grew up to serve the Europeans and later North Americans who needed to ship the gold, the silver, the meat, the rubber, the bananas or whatever.

It’s easy for a US citizen to agree with all the details about exploitation by Europeans, harder to deal with exploitation by North Americans. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner (2007) confirms US involvement in supporting the governments and business leaders that supported the US companies. It struck me reading about the maneuverings of American companies that, whether needing bananas or rubber or petroleum, they were operating not all that differently from how we’re discovering they operate at home and it’s abundantly clear at this point that the US is moving toward something like the Latin American republics with wealth increasingly concentrated among the few while the middle class which enabled the US to be different from its Latin American neighbors is dwindling. Power in the US is increasingly in the hands of corporations—often multi-nationals with loyalties primarily to their own interests which may or may not be the people of the United States. But perhaps I push this too far.

I have to note that Galeano, as many other Latin Americans, deplores the fact that the US has even co-opted the name “America”. (I had a hard time avoiding it in this review.)

Bottom line: This is a highly emotional book, but the logic and the evidence is quite definitely not lacking. I tend to compare him to Michael Moore, who goes after public attention with emotionally charged rhetoric, but backs it up with facts and details that prove the need for drawing attention to the issue. I cannot evaluate the detail and no doubt Galeano exaggerates and rants but it’s still a compelling book that’s worth the attention of a thinking person.(less)

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Oct 21, 2012 Mauricio rated it 4 of 5 stars

Este libro es lectura obligatoria para cualquier latinoamericano. Narra de una forma muy interesante la historia de nuestros países, escencial para entender porqué Latinoamérica nació pobre y sigue siendo pobre. Me gustó más la primera mitad del libro; la segunda es un poco pesada y la cantidad de datos es abrumadora.

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Jan 28, 2013 Fabiola rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

La única razón por la que le doy 4 estrellas es porque tuve que leerlo en dos semanas para una clase, y no es un libro que se lee en dos semanas, te agobia demasiado y tienes la sensación que si el libro no se acaba tú vas a ser el que termina con las venas abiertas, sin embargo es el trabajo mejor documentado sobre el desarrollo de América Latina que he encontrado, además está contado de una manera muy amena.
Este libro está para contestar la pregunta ¿Por qué Latinoamérica está como está? Y mos...more

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May 19, 2008 Cy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: highly-recommended, favorites-life-changers, rainbow-non-fiction-and-perspective, histories-and-herstories, quisqueyana-studies

The best Latin American history book on earth! "The most heartening response came not from the book pages in the press but from real incidents in the streets. The girl who was quietly reading Open Veins to her companion in a bus in Bogotá, and finally stood up and read it aloud to all the passengers. The woman who fled from Santiago in the days of the Chilean bloodbath with this book wrapped inside her baby’s diapers. The student who went from one bookstore to another for a week in Buenos Aires’...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Nilesh rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book is too vitriolic to be of any factual or historic use. An utter lack of balance in any argument makes it laughable at times - almost any action that can be ascribed to European or Western countries were brandished evil and any evil actions or bad outcomes were linked to these powers. As a result, the book is riddled with inherent contradictions and needless diatribe. Yes, it gives some idea on what drives the thinking and actions of leaders like Chavez, Castro etc but also shows why the...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Brian Gonzalez rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book because I heard that Hugo Chavez one time handed this book to President Obama. I don't know if this is true or not but because news of his death caused such polar opposite reactions, I wanted to learn more about Chavez. Quite honestly, I know very little about him.
The book definitely provides food for thought. As an American, I am truly a beneficiary of capitalism/imperialism. I've never given much thought to those at the other end of the spectrum because, well, I've never seen...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Indiabookstore rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent is Eduardo Galeano’s first and best known work. It is easily one of the most powerful books ever written. A more detailed and thorough account of Latin American history, a history of exploitation, violence and poverty, would be hard to find. Galeano has managed quite a feat in compressing five centuries of history without losing any of its force. Even though it was written forty years ago the book continues to be relevant...more Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent is Eduardo Galeano’s first and best known work. It is easily one of the most powerful books ever written. A more detailed and thorough account of Latin American history, a history of exploitation, violence and poverty, would be hard to find. Galeano has managed quite a feat in compressing five centuries of history without losing any of its force. Even though it was written forty years ago the book continues to be relevant today.

Open Veins is an analysis of the historical events that have taken place in the continent of Latin America since the time settlers from European nations first arrived. Galeano recounts an endless succession of exploitative practices that the settlers launched upon the native people and their land. Yet the book is not only based on sentimentalism. It is a collection of facts and incidents, narrated in a tone underlined with sadness and anger. It is not merely an account of society and culture, the author undertakes a detailed analysis of the economics and politics of different Latin American countries. Rather than dealing with his exhaustive topic in a chronological manner, Galeano speaks of a land that was stripped one after another of each of its precious resources. Starting from valuable metals gold, silver, copper to organic produce like cacao, rubber and cotton to even bird feces, for being a rich source of nitrates. It might be comic to imagine a land being robbed of bird refuse, but it also underlines the extent to which the robbery occurred, everything that could be used for anything was taken away. The culprits were not just the European colonial powers. Even though Iberian colonial domination of Latin America ebbed away by the end of the nineteenth century, the mantle was immediately picked up by Britain and was ably followed by the US. A large part of the book deals with the guile and violence adopted by various missives of the North American country whose only purpose was to leech away every valuable resource whether by diplomatic maneuvers or forced coercion. The heights to which the manipulations of capitalist ventures based in the US reached are baffling but Galeano ensures that he backs his claims with enough fact so as it leave the reader in doubt of their veracity....

For the full review, visit IndiaBookStore.(less)

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Sep 23, 2011 Gabriela Mejia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mr. Galeano has a unique gift for writing about historical events in Latin America. I have read it so many times that I might need to buy a new copy just because the book is so worn!!
I see how some might not appreciate his brutal honestly and his decision to point a finger directly at those who raped the lands of Latin America and took with them the precious resources to fuel their wars and greed. At the same time, those resources were flushed out of our continent with the blood of the indigenou...more

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Oct 09, 2009 Alethea marked it as to-read · review of another edition

The audio is available at audible.com--read by Jonathan Davis, who also read Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind. He could read me the phone book and I'd listen. I mean *really* listen. In fact, you can even download his reading of Deuteronomy (no, it's not some modern fiction you've never heard of before, I mean the book from The Bible). No, really!

Anyway, people have been bugging me for months about this book, which the president of...more

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Jul 27, 2009 Dianne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anything-latin-american

When Hugo Chavez recently handed this book to Obama, I decided I'd better take a look. The 1997 edition, handily on the shelf in my library, includes a beautifully written foreword by Isabel Allende. This book (plus ODES by Pablo Neruda) were the two books Allende took with her when evacuating Chile after the 1973 coup. I'm learning much about the oppression, colonization, and economic exploitation of Latin America, and feeling fairly stunned that I never knew about this 1973 book.

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Aug 04, 2011 Francisco Viliesid rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Del libro: p.294, "La ayuda funciona como el filántropo del cuento, que le había puesto una pata de palo a su chanchito, pero era porque se lo estaba comiendo de a poco". Otra: p. 295, "La caridad internacional no existe; empieza por casa, también para los Estado Unidos. La ayuda externa desempeña, en primer lugar, una función interna: la economía norteamericana se ayuda a sí misma". Otra más: p.337, "Ya Bolívar había afirmado, certera profecía, que los Estados Unidos parecían destinados por la...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Miriam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

encontré este libro en la biblioteca de mi universidad, no estaba en la sección de historia, ni en la de problemas socioeconómicos, tampoco estaba en la de periodismo, estaba perdido entre la sección donde ponen ensayos sobre sustentabilidad y trabajo comunitario.
Re-leo partes de este libro cuando necesito inspirarme para hacer algún trabajo, la forma en que describe la historia es tan fluida que casi puedo imaginármela que pasa frente a mis ojos. En México cuando enseñan la historia hacen que m...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Jon-Erik rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are two errors I find that permeate anti-imperialist literature. First is the alienation of the United States from Latin America, its presentation as the actor, the agent. Second is the mystery of the diabolical gringissimo who seems to proceed through some phantom process of a translatio imperii from Alexander to Caesar to Columbus to Queen Elizabeth to President Roosevelt. These two fallacies are interconnected. Unfortunately, they are the foundation of this otherwise excellent work.

To e...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Isotilia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historia

In Brazil, this book is very controversial. It was never forbidden and it influenced all academic students from 1970's. When I went to school (1990's), all History books were based in this book. And all history/geograhy teachers constantly talked about this book. US, developped countries and big companies were the responsible for Latin American poverty. It was what I call the 'left wave' of Brazil.
Now the situation changed. We have Brazilian companies on other countries, including USA (but the...more In Brazil, this book is very controversial. It was never forbidden and it influenced all academic students from 1970's. When I went to school (1990's), all History books were based in this book. And all history/geograhy teachers constantly talked about this book. US, developped countries and big companies were the responsible for Latin American poverty. It was what I call the 'left wave' of Brazil.
Now the situation changed. We have Brazilian companies on other countries, including USA (but they also pay better salaries to their American employes than to the Brazilians),the dictatorships don't exist anymore and most of Latin American governments call themselves 'socialist'. But this reality didn't solve the Latin American poverty. Best job opportunities are on the hands of a minority that pays thousands of dollars to look like an American ( a McDonald's hamburgers costs 5 times more in Brazil, a car 4 times more and an appartment 8 times more than in Germany).
The opponents write conservative books (as Guia Politicamente Incorreto da História do Brasil to tell that things weren't as The Open Veins describes it ( Paraguay was not an developped country before the War, most of revelotionary leaders had slaves and paid miserable salaries for their employees. They were not interessed on social revolution neither). I call it the 'right wave'.
I personally don't know how a such boring book as The Open Veins could have caused such impact on the society. I believe the truth is on the middle, it's nor like the 'left guys' say it was neither like the 'right guys'. The exploration existed and it still exists. It is impossible to deny the fact.
The causes of exploration are not only exterior, but also the selfish of Latin American people. During the slavery, there was an slave called 'the captain of the wood'. This captain was responsible to capture slaves who have scaped, torture them and murder them. Because of that, the captain received more privileges, more alcohol, sex with more slave women, etc. I've never understood why a black man betrays all his nation if he would never be considered as 'white' by the dominant minoritary white. He did that because of selfish (small material privileges).
Today we, as an elite, work as 'captains of the wood' for all big companies that have power ( no matter where they came from).The Open Veins had a good purpose but it should be rewritten for correct describing our current situation of exploration.
Maybe I will try to write a book about this one day...(less)

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Aug 11, 2011 Patrick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Found this on my sister-in-law's bookshelf and haven't been able to put it down in my spare time. Sorry, JL Bourne, but the zombie apocalypse will have to wait.
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This book is effectively a three-hundred page list of crimes against the natives and the underclasses of the countries south of the Rio Grande and in the Caribbean. I was expecting a history book on Latin America and while there is quite a bit of history here, it is more a list of complaints against the economic policies of Europe and...more Found this on my sister-in-law's bookshelf and haven't been able to put it down in my spare time. Sorry, JL Bourne, but the zombie apocalypse will have to wait.
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This book is effectively a three-hundred page list of crimes against the natives and the underclasses of the countries south of the Rio Grande and in the Caribbean. I was expecting a history book on Latin America and while there is quite a bit of history here, it is more a list of complaints against the economic policies of Europe and the United States and, more generally, against free trade. The list of crimes perpetrated against "the people" is both impressive and disgusting. The various plots, deceits, manipulations, and -- essentially -- blackmail that have stifled Latin American developments are truly shocking and this is a part of American -- American in the broadest continental sense -- history that should be better known.

Most interesting to me were the passages describing the eccentricities and betrayals of the various petty dictators around Latin America, quickly followed by several passages describing the reasons for vast disparities between the development of "the north" and "the south." The differences in institutions are stark, and it really boils down to countries where there was a resource to be exploited versus countries where the colonists were left to develop their own culture, institutions, and economy.

Where the book falls down, in my view, is in its failure to connect the dots and really go the extra mile to show the development or lack thereof from various angles. I knew this was a left-wing tract when I started, but Galeano fails to really describe the lifestyle of the natives before contact with Europeans. What was life expectancy? What was the birth rate? What did they eat? He's good at listing and citing the horrors perpetrated against the people, but not so good at describing how the lives of the people changed over time. Also, Galeano jumps from colonial period to independence without explaining who it was who moved up and became the new rulers/exploiters. The upper class, the dictators, the bourgeoisie -- these villains appear out of thin air. Obviously these villains came from somewhere and their advancement, even at the expense of the underclass should have been further explored. (less)

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Mar 05, 2013 Todd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-cultural-history, cultural-studies, history, sociology

Galeano is a Uruguayan journalist/writer who has written a magesterial three-volume expansion on this book since it was published in 1970. It is really a jarring read, especially if you're not familiar with how badly Latin America has been exploited by first Spain and Portugal, then the British Empire, and then the United States. Galeano is particularly critical of the imperial forces beyond the shores of Latin American that have bled it dry for 500 years, but he's also sharply critical of the "...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Lesley Fuller rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

William Appleman Williams wrote about America’s hand in the self-determination of other nations in his influential work, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy. In the last 50 years, nowhere is that more evident than in Latin America. As a citizen on the front lines of major transformations in his home country and surrounding nations, Eduardo Galeano is a poet describing the horrors of his homeland. His book, Open Veins of Latin America, is justifiably revered as well as controversial in its depictio...more William Appleman Williams wrote about America’s hand in the self-determination of other nations in his influential work, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy. In the last 50 years, nowhere is that more evident than in Latin America. As a citizen on the front lines of major transformations in his home country and surrounding nations, Eduardo Galeano is a poet describing the horrors of his homeland. His book, Open Veins of Latin America, is justifiably revered as well as controversial in its depiction of U.S. and Latin American diplomacy.

Galeano argues that Latin Americans are cursed; they are cursed because they are naturally wealthy (oil, minerals, natural gas) and therefore open as targets for more powerful nations to oppress, colonize and exploit. Self-determination has been denied Latin American nations through economic and military force, mostly at the hands of the United States, as a means to protect the abundance of riches the continent possesses. This curse and this common fate befell Latin American nations at the hands of others for 500 years.

In this world, there are winners and losers and to Galeano, Latin American’s have perfected being the loser. Latin America entered the world’s economy through the “servant’s door” and has struggled to be more than a service nation to Europe and the U.S. However, Galeano argues that Latin America’s loss was the reason for other nation’s victories; they used the natural resources and labor from Latin America to feed their economic and social success, thereby “winning” on a global scale. The disparity between wealthy nations around the world and poverty-stricken nations in Latin America- the differences in literacy, hunger, disease and income- is enormous and Galeano argues, makes sense only to the bourgeoisie who maintain it and make it grow. The bourgeoisie in Galeano’s account take on the same form as the bourgeoisie in Marx’s theory, oppressing the poor and fomenting class conflict that will eventually lead to revolution. However, revolution has frequently been quashed through militaristic intervention, most notably by the United States, which maintains the status quo for the good of those who are already “winners.”

Galeano is a political journalist from Uruguay, an exile- both self-imposed and imposed by others- and an activist speaking out for the voiceless throughout all the nations of Latin America. Isabelle Allende, in her foreword to the anniversary edition, describes him as a man who listens to the voices of the oppressed as well as the intellectuals and leaders. His overwhelming knowledge of Latin American history enabled him to write Open Veins in a mere three months, astonishing considering its scope. Both dangerous and inspirational, it was even given to President Obama as a gift from President Hugo Chavez. Allende describes it as the book with the yellow cover, one of the few possessions she took with her when she fled her homeland in 1973. It’s a book with that kind of power and the parallels to the “little red book” are intriguing as well.

While Galeano sees Latin America as having been victimized by circumstances, he believes that Latin American citizens do not have to be victims of history, but can and should be actors in history. In his introduction, he decries that everything has been forbidden to Latin American citizens but to fold their hands and accept their fate, but Galeano himself clearly feels that Latin Americans are not condemned to continually accept the same fate for another 500 years. Whether it makes you angry or inspires you, it is a must read.
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Jun 30, 2009 Rob Prince rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I know, I know, this is the book that Chavez gave to Obama. Let us hope that the US president actually reads it and digests its content. Interestingly enough, I used this in a class I taught this past spring. The fact that Chavez offered to book to Obama greatly the likelihood that my students actually read it. Actually they had to as it was the subject matter of the mid term. I still think this is one of the best introductions to what in the `old days' we used to generally called U.S. Imperiali...more

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Jun 05, 2007 nicebutnubbly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

My love for Galeano cannot be textually rendered. He's a deeply radical man who writes beautiful books, and The Memoria del Fuego series is not what I think of as "history" - it's not dry, it's not footnoted, it's not strictly factual, but my god, is it compelling. This is exactly what it says in the title, and it's gorgeous.

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Feb 11, 2010 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An interesting look at the history of Latin America in light of their economic oppression, first by the British and then America. It was first written in 1970ish but it is pertinent today because a lot of the resentment, fear and anger (ie. Chavez etc) against the US today, is a result of what happened in the past. This book has reminded me that there is structural oppression and injustice in this world that we can not even understand. One of the worst stories was of how two multinational compan...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Jonathan Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Such a provocative and controversial book, still so after the late Hugo Chavez gifted it to Obama much to the dismay of rightwing commentators, doesn't fail disappoint.
Vividly describing in horrific detail the centuries of oppression faced by Latin America, an often forgotten continent (at least in the UK). It draws you in describing the well accepted atrocities of Spanish imperialism then moving through time to more controversial American imperialism. Though much has changed since it was publi...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Matthew Gaughan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: latin-american, politics

A little too polemical and repetitive at times, but this is a compelling alternative history of Latin America, as well as an absorbing and often damning analysis of Anglo-American capitalist imperalism (reminding the reader that a lot of Britain's wealth did not come from its actual Empire). I wish the copy which Chavez gave to Obama last year had been in English; Obama's opinion of this book would have been fascinating, especially as it argues that the US's capitalism is a direct replacement fo...more

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Nov 15, 2009 Madeleine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: latin-america, nonfiction

This was recommended to me as a "classic of the Latin American left." Despite my connections to Argentina, I don't know that much about the left and I don't really know any real leftists in Argentina or elsewhere in Latin America, really. I do know someone who - no joke - refers to the Dirty War as the "War of the Subversives." He also gives me shit (in a very polite, very well-to-do, very British sort of way) about being una izquierdista. Part of this giant hole in my knowledge is due to the fa...more

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Mar 13, 2011 Steven Salaita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I finally got to Open Veins last week; I'd been meaning to read it for five, six years now. It was worth the wait. Beyond some occasional rhetorical silliness, Galeano writes beautifully and powerfully. His condemnation of the assorted pimps, crooks, shysters, and assholes who have long exploited Latin America--from within as comprador businesspeople and from the outside as (usually North American) imperialists--to the detriment of the vast majority of its peoples is thorough and infuriating.

Hu...more

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May 22, 2012 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a really good book about Latin American history. The way of writing had a natural flow and it was easy to follow and not tedious at all. Also, the content was sincere and not manipulated by big corporations or powerful countries, which is rare in these days. As European and Spanish, I have to say that some of the things it states made me felt bad, because after all their situation is our fault. Also, there were some details about what the solutions should be in which I didn't completely...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Solor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an important work. One of the first voice of dissent and protest against the silent hegemony of the rich countries over South America.

It is a factual book that shows time and time again how the continent has been raped and pillaged for centuries. The narrative is typical South American: non-linear, passionate, flamboyant
as in the Marquez and Borges style.

It is a sad reading and proves that there is not Capitalism without exploitation. The astounding living standards of North America and...more

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About Eduardo Hughes Galeano

Eduardo Hughes Galeano is a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist. His best known works are Memoria del fuego (Memory of Fire Trilogy, 1986) and Las venas abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin America, 1971) which have been translated into twenty languages and transcend orthodox genres: combining fiction, journalism, political analysis, and history.

The author himself has proclaimed...more

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Quotes from Las Venas abiertas de ...

“The Nobodies

Fleas dream of buying themselves a dog, and nobodies dream of escaping
poverty: that one magical day good luck will suddenly rain down on
them---will rain down in buckets. But good luck doesn't rain down
yesterday, today, tomorrow, or ever. Good luck doesn't even fall in a
fine drizzle, no matter how hard the nobodies summon it, even if their
left hand is tickling, or if they begin the new day with their right
foot, or start the new year with a change of brooms.

The nobodies: nobody's children, owners of nothing. The nobodies: the
no ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits, dying through life,
screwed every which way.

Who are not, but could be.
Who don't speak languages, but dialects.
Who don't have religions, but superstitions.
Who don't create art, but handicrafts.
Who don't have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources.
Who do not have faces, but arms.
Who do not have names, but numbers.
Who do not appear in the history of the world, but in the police
blotter of the local paper.
The nobodies, who are not worth the bullet that kills them.” — 39 people liked it

“Our defeat was always implicit in the victory of others; our wealth has always generated our poverty by nourishing the prosperity of others - the empires and their native overseers. In the colonial and neocolonial alchemy, gold changes into scrap metal and food into poison.” — 12 people liked it

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Las Venas abiertas de América Latina

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