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http://www.workers.org/articles/2015/04/30/eduardo-galeano-his-open-veins-laid-bare-ravages-of-imperialism/

Eduardo Galeano His Open Veins laid bare ravages of

imperialism
Berta Joubert-Ceci

Eduardo Galeano, the Uruguayan writer most famous for

his Open Veins of Latin America, died April 13 of lung
cancer at the age of 74. Written in the early 1970s, his
book exposed the devastating ravages of imperialist
domination in Latin America and the Caribbean, much as
Walter Rodneys book, How Europe Underdeveloped
Africa, did for that continent.
Galeanos Open Veins is required reading for those who
want to learn about Latin America. Over the years, it has
become a textbook of knowledge on the subject, in a way
that ordinary textbooks cannot achieve. Its impact has
been impressive.
Seven years after publication, Galeano himself wrote:
Eduardo Galeano
Seven years have gone by since Open Veins of Latin
America was first published. This book was written to
have a talk with people. The most heartening response came not from the book pages in the media but from
real incidents in the streets. The girl who was quietly reading Open Veins to her companion in a bus in Bogot,
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 babys diapers. The student who went from one bookstore to
another for a week in Buenos Aires Calle Corrientes, reading bits of it in each store because he hadnt the money
to buy it.
It is a book that has many stories surrounding it. For example, while it was banned by several Latin American
dictatorships, the book was allowed in the military jails of his native Uruguay for the first few months of the
dictatorship because they thought it was a medical textbook, an anatomy book! Of course, once they realized their
mistake, it was forbidden.
Translated into many languages, Open Veins once again became a hit in 2009 when Venezuelan President
Hugo Chvez gave a copy to President Barack Obama during an OAS Summit, in that way introducing it to a new
generation of readers.
Galeanos style is unique, presenting facts and giving lessons of history in a beautiful and exciting prose,
submerging the readers in pages of fascinating developments, helping them to understand the most complex
historical processes with ease.
He wrote novels and political articles exposing imperialism and right-wing oppressive governments. They were
published in many journals, newspapers and magazines around the world. His last article, on December 2014,
was about the case of the 43 students disappeared at Ayotzinapa in Mexico.
Latin America was not his only subject; he wrote about oppression, dictatorships, inequality, racism and political
subjugation. His Gaza article in 2012 condemning the massacre of Palestinians by Israel is a good example of
how he connects the U.S. to international crimes. In it he writes: The so-called international community: Does it
exist? Is it anything more than a club of merchants, bankers and warriors? Is it anything more than the stage
name that the United States give themselves when they do theater?
In 2009, Galeano came to Philadelphia to speak at the Free Library, promoting his latest (and last) book, Mirrors:

Stories of Almost Everyone, another required reading about world history. During the Q & A period, a woman
asked what advice he would give to the youth of Latin America. His response was quite interesting, as if he were
waiting for the occasion to make the point about U.S. domination to U.S. audiences.
He said: No, no, please. Djame en paz [Leave me alone]. I do not want to give advice. It is like we are all trained
by this USAID habit. It is not a good habit of feeling or thinking or knowing, that these nations have been chosen
by God to save other nations; so they would have the perfect recipe to save countries and save people. And each
time they have saved a country in Latin America, they have left dictatorships that lasted 20 to 30 years, like in the
Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, everywhere. Nations saved by them become giant jails and cemeteries. So what
I would say is please, dont save me. I dont want to be saved.
This writer was able to ask the last question, about Cuba, and Galeano ended his presentation saying: In all Latin
America now, as part of a wave of new energies of change, energies of dignity and solidarity, Cuba has been a
source of inspiration for all of that dignity and solidarity.
Eduardo Galeano, presente!
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