Chavez Gifts Obama With Book That Assails U.S. for Exploiting Latin America

abcnews.com ^ | April 18, 2009 | Jake Tapper

[Free ThinkerNY]

At President Obama's meeting with the heads of South American countries this morning, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stood, walked over to him, and presented him with a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano.

Obama politely posed for a photograph with Chavez, shook his hand, and accepted the gift.

The book, first published in Spanish in 1971, offers a critique of the consequences of 500 years of European and U.S. colonization of Latin America.

"The division of labor among nations is that some specialize in winning and others in losing," the book begins. "Our part of the world, known today as Latin America, was precocious: it has specialized in losing ever since those remote times when Renaissance Europeans ventured across the ocean and buried their teeth in the throats of the Indian civilizations. Centuries passed, and Latin America perfected its role."

Galeano writes that while the era of "lodes of gold" and "mountains of silver" has passed, "our region still works as a menial laborer. It continues to exist at the service of others' needs, as a source of oil and iron, of copper and meat, of fruit and coffee, the raw materials and foods destined for rich countries which profit more from consuming them than Latin America does from producing them."

[Free ThinkerNY]

[Malone LaVeigh]

At least he was smart enough not to give him any Region 4 DVD’s.

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

They give dvd’s, they get a special book...

This is like watching a soap opera ...what’s that one show called on sunday nights? It’s about housewives and the way they treat each other?
So weird

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

LoL

[jessduntno]

Bammy wrote the jacket blurb for the fifteenth printing, the special Socialist Worker’s copy, didn’t he?

[KansasGirl]

[Obama politely posed for a photograph with Chavez, shook his hand, and accepted the gift.]

The pictures I saw, showed Obama being more than polite. He was being downright friendly.

[sunmars]

and then Obama will read it and use every idea to apologise and appease for anything. Why not, he’s already known as the Apologiser in chief.

Imagine if this schmuck was around when Hitler was, he’d have handed Hitler the shovel for Hitler to bash Obama’s own minority brains in. He’s that stupid.

[Dr. Ursus]

Obama,that’ll be 5 dollars for the autograph and 5 dollars
for the photo.Obama-Reggie pay the man.

[EyeGuy]

Blood Brothers.

“Persons of color” who despise America.

[benjibrowder]

Actually, several of the female characters are very hardcore conservative. Bree (the show’s most familiar character possibly) is NRA and anti-abortion. She even has pictures of Reagan up in her house.

[benjibrowder]

Any true American would have turned right around and said Che Gueverra’s name.

[PowderMonkey]

"The division of labor among nations is that some specialize in winning and others in losing," the book begins. "Our part of the world, known today as Latin America, was precocious: it has specialized in losing ever since those remote times when Renaissance Europeans ventured across the ocean and buried their teeth in the throats of the Indian civilizations. Centuries passed, and Latin America perfected its role."

Ah, yes. They would have been much better off, left doing what they had been doing for centuries: making war upon and enslaving smaller defenseless indigenous peoples, using them and their regional resources as a source of wealth and cheap labor, and ultimately cutting out their still beating hearts as sacrificial offerings to a nonexistent god. I could go on, but suffice it to say Latin America's chief downfall was
1. Tribalism (which persists to this day)
2. Its failure to domesticate the horse, and adapt its use for warfare. They were toast the minute Europeans invented the stirrup. Too friggin' bad.

[cmj328]

If memory serves, Chavez is a convert to Communism.

Zero is a cradle Commie.

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

It’s just the concept...of neighbors and their relationships -—behind the scenes—snooping, hidden agenda, cheating and spying, catfights...physical fights. It just reminded me of that show for some reason. I had no idea they considered themselves conservatives.....! Learn something new everyday.

[Young Werther]

I ENJOYED THE CHAPTER WHERE THE STORY OF THE AZTECS LED BY GEORGE BUSH CUT THE HEARTS OUT OF EVERYONE! (CAP LOCKS off)

When I took an undergraduate history course in 19th Century Radical Thought I learned of revisionist history and how it is used to "lead the masses!" I'll bet that this isn't the first such book in OBOOKWORM's (oops) LIEBURY!

Jeanie Garafolo go to heck!

[Fantasywriter]

I suspect he’s already read it. It appears to come from his favorite literary genre.

[JavaJumpy]

“Actually, several of the female characters are very hardcore conservative. Bree (the show’s most familiar character possibly) is NRA and anti-abortion. She even has pictures of Reagan up in her house.”

Yes, and she’s also portrayed as a bit off, isn’t she? I don’t think that’s coincidence.

[FrdmLvr]

Too late. He’s already got it.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Truth be told...the book is probably a pretty accurate picture of what has happened down there, unfortunately. Whether some want to face the truth or not still makes it the truth. The thing to do is not to make big apologies for tycoons who are already dead or pay reparations for things others did, but to begin to do the right thing now.

[nhwingut]

We need the photo of Zero proudly displaying the anti American book in his hand. It’s out there.

[Mack the knife]

Truth be told...the book is probably a pretty accurate picture of what has happened down there,...

---

Actually, the worst thing the Spanish did was to export to all of the Latin American countries a culture of institutionalized corruption, a culture of offical bribery. When the natives finally kicked out the Spanish, they maintained that culture.

Witness Mexico, with their word “mordido”.

[kabumpo]

That book is crazed, unmitigated crap. The writer carrries on because so many people in Cuba in the 1950s owned cadillacs.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I heard that Obama gave Chavez AIG stock options.

[PowderMonkey]

Nope. Sorry, but the Spaniards didn’t bring institutionalized corruption to the Americas. It existed in the pre-colombian cultures long before the Spaniards arrived. Totonac, Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Inca all had their own bureaucratic and priestly hierarchy corrupt and venal in the extreme, and well documented.

[Fred]

From the Heritage Foundation

Report on Venezuela’s Human Rights’ Record Earns Chavez’ Wrath

After months of lambasting staunch U.S. ally Colombia for its human rights record, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch has published a detailed 236-page report exposing the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez’ shabby record with regard to human rights in extensive detail. Describing everything from the marginalization of political opposition groups to the dismantling of judicial independence in order to make the courts subservient to an increasingly centralized government, the report recounts many specific instances where the populist Chavez governs with little regard for democratic practices. Two senior Human Rights Watch officials were hustled out of their hotels at night and hastily thrown on the first plane out of Venezuela for such a brazen attempt to engage in open, objective criticism of the regime. While we have not always agreed with previous Human Rights Watch positions on Cuba or Colombia, we are pleased to see this report published and commend the readiness of Human Rights Watch to take its case to Caracas and the Venezuelan people. Their treatment by Venezuela authorities and the shrill accusation that those reporting objective truths about the true nature of political life in Venezuela are engaging in a destabilizing conspiracy speaks volumes about the nature of the Chavez regime

Venezuela: Rights Suffer Under Chávez Political Discrimination and Weakened Institutions Define Presidency

Perhaps Obama is getting some training from Chavez.

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

Thank you for the heads up—never heard of it before.

[Jet Jaguar]

BTTT

[Jet Jaguar]

PIng in case you missed it.

[Nachum]

Thanks Jet Jaguar. I believe this was added yesterday. Our president is a busy fellow!

Thanks again :)