THOM HARTMANN'S INDEPENDENT THINKER REVIEW OF THE MONTH FOR BUZZFLASH: May, 2009
Each month, BuzzFlash is privileged to have nationally syndicated progressive talk show host Thom Hartmann review a progressive book or DVD exclusively for BuzzFlash. See other progressive premiums at BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Thom Hartmann's Review -- Exclusively for BuzzFlash -- for May, 2009:
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent.
(This is the book that Hugo Chavez gave to President Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas and that Obama said that he would read.)
When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez famously gave US President Barack Obama a book as a gift, that book – Open Veins of Latin America – became an instant and overnight international bestseller. Having now read it, I must give a strong commendation to Chavez for finding the perfect book to let an American (as in “a US citizen”) understand how most of the peoples in the rest of the Americas view us, and why.
Not only should Obama read this book – as soon as possible (because not only is Latin America viewing us this way, but now Iraqis are, too, and disgruntled Saudis, etc., etc.) – but it should become a basic text in every High School civics class in the United States.
The subtitle of the book is “Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,” and it delivers on that with eloquence and detail. And it’s not exclusively (or, frankly, even largely) a story of pillage by the USA.
The story of Paraguay is particularly poignant; in the mid-19th century it had become economically and politically independent and largely democratic. This was something the British oligarchs couldn’t tolerate, so they worked with their associates in Brazil and Argentina (largely) to gin up a war that would destroy this nascent experiment in egalitarianism and small-d democracy. Paraguay has never recovered from that war, and true access to its resources have largely been in the hands of multinational corporations and other powers ever since.
In the opening paragraph of this review, I qualified referring to citizens of the USA as “Americans.” As Galeano writes in the introduction to his book, after explaining how US President Woodrow Wilson had pointed out the overlord/underlord (my words, not his) relationship between the US and Latin America:
Read the full Thom Hartman Independent Thinker Review by clicking below.
"Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent (Paperback)." This is Thom Hartmann's "Independent Thinker" May Book Review for BuzzFlash. This is the Book that Hugo Chavez Personally Gave to Barack Obama in April 2009.
By Eduardo Galeano. Translated by Cedric Belfrage. New Introduction by Isabel Allende.
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BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)