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 [0xc0001738f0 0xc000062ed0 0xc00015df80 0xc000176570 0xc00048f500 0xc0006d3560 0xc00051b2f0 0xc0008353b0 0xc0000fa000 0xc0006c9e90 0xc00079b860 0xc0007bb590 0xc000b228a0 0xc000c21b60 0xc000639f80 0xc000cedcb0 0xc0010e56e0 0xc000dc4ed0 0xc0010b07e0 0xc0011816b0 0xc0011940f0 0xc0011cf9e0 0xc001211da0 0xc0012272f0 0xc000bfe3f0 0xc0015bf6b0 0xc0007e8c30 0xc0011ab740 0xc0012fb7a0 0xc001b3d1a0 0xc001d26ea0 0xc00204b800 0xc0020749f0 0xc00060d350 0xc00064c480 0xc00074d8c0 0xc001b08e70 0xc002072e70 0xc00232d110 0xc00232de30 0xc002584e10 0xc0025c2480 0xc000660060 0xc00110d620 0xc00110dc50 0xc001244720 0xc001283950 0xc0019d8690 0xc001e66210 0xc00272e150]}
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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