Open Veins of Latin America
Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

Galeano, Eduardo
Publisher:  Monthly Review Press, New York
Year First Published:  {22894 Open Veins of Latin America OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent Galeano, Eduardo Monthly Review Press New York A political economy, a social and cultural narrative, and a powerful description of primitive capital accumulation. 1971 1973 360pp $18 BC22894-Galeano-OpenVeins.jpg B Book 978-0-85345-991-0 Originally banned in Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile, Open Veins of Latin America has undergone multiple printings since its first publication in 1971, a testament to the importance and continued relevance of this work. Galeano passionately recounts the exploitation of Latin America from conquest through to neocolonialism. Challenging the victors' version of history, he brings together the work of historians, sociologists, economists and anthropologists to provide a very different account. Galeano describes the current struggles of Latin America against poverty and underdevelopment as product of a history of oppression. He does so in a lucid narrative that is accessible and interesting, with a clear interest in restoring pride, dignity and hope. <br> <br>Galeano shows that wealth and freedom do not exist in a vacuum but are inextricably linked to their opposites, poverty and enslavement. It was through plunder, slavery and genocide that the capitalist centres of our world were spawned, with Latin America functioning as an intermediary, never really participating in the international market but supplying desired raw material. <br> <br>The conquest of Latin America began as a New World crusade where conquistadores served dual majesties, God and the Crown, to exploit the paradise of mineral and plant resources they found. This feudal system has remained essentially unchanged from colonialism through independence. Countries which attempt reform or advocate any anti-imperialist policy are controlled through international monetary loans and military action. <br> <br>The zero-sum system that keeps Latin America subjugated is a human system. Exposing this as neither natural nor necessary, Galeano demonstrates that change is possible. <br> <br>[Abstract by Diana Canning] <br> <br> <br> <br>Table of Contents <br> <br>Introduction: 120 Million Children in the Eye of the Hurricane <br> <br>Part I: Mankind's Poverty as a Consequence of the Wealth of the Land <br>1. Lust for Gold, Lust for Silver <br>2. King Sugar and Other Agricultural Monarchs <br>3. The Invisible Sources of Power <br> <br>Part II: Development is a Voyage with More Shipwrecks than Navigators <br>4. Tales of Premature Death <br>5. The Contemporary Structure of Plunder <br> <br>References <br>Index CX8610 1 true true false CX8610.htm [0xc000db8c90 0xc000dd02d0 0xc001b93a40 0xc001dca3c0 0xc001f0f710 0xc001fc9ad0 0xc002210ab0 0xc0009e51a0 0xc00017c3f0 0xc0003148d0 0xc0003523c0 0xc000360120 0xc000485980 0xc0023d7f50 0xc00024b890 0xc000837f50 0xc000a33d40 0xc0005922d0 0xc0006ebdd0 0xc000754de0 0xc000755800 0xc0007bd350 0xc000821860 0xc000846db0 0xc00062fef0 0xc0003b5410 0xc00032e600 0xc000a21e60 0xc000c4e210 0xc001808f30 0xc001a5f590 0xc001f2cba0 0xc001f53d70 0xc000428180 0xc00044b2f0 0xc000508780 0xc001933410 0xc00238fe90 0xc0023fbc20 0xc002414960 0xc0026ebc20 0xc0000e5500 0xc000666690 0xc001036fc0 0xc001037620 0xc0010c43c0 0xc0010e9620 0xc001846f90 0xc001f3df20 0xc00289c4e0] Cx}
Year Published:  1973
Pages:  360pp   Price:  $18   ISBN:  978-0-85345-991-0
Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX8610

A political economy, a social and cultural narrative, and a powerful description of primitive capital accumulation.

Abstract: 
Originally banned in Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile, Open Veins of Latin America has undergone multiple printings since its first publication in 1971, a testament to the importance and continued relevance of this work. Galeano passionately recounts the exploitation of Latin America from conquest through to neocolonialism. Challenging the victors' version of history, he brings together the work of historians, sociologists, economists and anthropologists to provide a very different account. Galeano describes the current struggles of Latin America against poverty and underdevelopment as product of a history of oppression. He does so in a lucid narrative that is accessible and interesting, with a clear interest in restoring pride, dignity and hope.

Galeano shows that wealth and freedom do not exist in a vacuum but are inextricably linked to their opposites, poverty and enslavement. It was through plunder, slavery and genocide that the capitalist centres of our world were spawned, with Latin America functioning as an intermediary, never really participating in the international market but supplying desired raw material.

The conquest of Latin America began as a New World crusade where conquistadores served dual majesties, God and the Crown, to exploit the paradise of mineral and plant resources they found. This feudal system has remained essentially unchanged from colonialism through independence. Countries which attempt reform or advocate any anti-imperialist policy are controlled through international monetary loans and military action.

The zero-sum system that keeps Latin America subjugated is a human system. Exposing this as neither natural nor necessary, Galeano demonstrates that change is possible.

[Abstract by Diana Canning]



Table of Contents

Introduction: 120 Million Children in the Eye of the Hurricane

Part I: Mankind's Poverty as a Consequence of the Wealth of the Land
1. Lust for Gold, Lust for Silver
2. King Sugar and Other Agricultural Monarchs
3. The Invisible Sources of Power

Part II: Development is a Voyage with More Shipwrecks than Navigators
4. Tales of Premature Death
5. The Contemporary Structure of Plunder

References
Index

Subject Headings

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