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

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by Eduardo Galeano


  But even while Pinochet celebrated his victory, strikes which the dictatorship called “collective labor absenteeism” were breaking out all over Chile, despite the terror. The great majority of kidnapped and disappeared people in Argentina are workers who performed some union activity. The limitless popular imagination keeps hatching new forms of struggle—the “Sad Faces Workday,” the “Angry Faces Workday”—and solidarity finds new channels for the escape from fear. Numerous unanimous strikes occurred in Argentina through 1977, when fear of losing one’s life was as real as the risk of losing one’s job. A stroke of the pen can’t destroy the power of response of an organized working class with a long fighting tradition. In May of the same year, when the Uruguayan dictatorship was balancing up its program of emptying minds and performing collective castration, it was forced to recognize that “37 percent of the country’s citizens are still interested in politics.”26

  In these lands we are not experiencing the primitive infancy of capitalism but its vicious senility. Underdevelopment isn’t a stage of development, but its consequence. Latin America’s underdevelopment arises from external development, and continues to feed it. A system made impotent by its function of international servitude, and moribund since birth, has feet of clay. It pretends to be destiny and would like to be thought eternal. All memory is subversive, because it is different, and likewise any program for the future. The zombie is made to eat without salt: salt is dangerous, it could awaken him. The system has its paradigm in the immutable society of ants. For that reason it accords ill with the history of humankind, because that is always changing. And because in the history of humankind every act of destruction meets its response, sooner or later, in an act of creation.

  References

  Notes to Introduction: 120 Million Children in the Eye of the Hurricane, pp. 1-8

  1. Woodrow Wilson, as quoted in Scott Nearing and Joseph Freeman, Dollar Diplomacy (1925; reprint ed., New York: Monthly Review Press, 1966).

  2. Life, 29 March 1968, p. 83.

  3. Lyndon B. Johnson, in a speech on the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations, San Francisco, June 25,1965.

  Notes to Chapter 1: Lust for Gold, Lust for Silver, pp. 11-58

  1. The Adventures of Marco Polo, Richard J. Walsh, ed. (New York: John Day, 1948), p. 143.

  2. Daniel Vidart, Ideología y realidad de America (Montevideo, 1968).

  3. The Log of Christopher Columbus’ First Voyage to America in the Year 1492 (London: W.H. Allen & Co., Ltd., n.d.).

  4. Quoted in Luis Nicolau D’Olwer, Cronistas de las culturas precolombinas (Mexico, 1963).

  5. Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, Historia general y natural de las Indias (Madrid, 1959).

  6. According to the Indian informants of Fray Bernardino de Sahagún in the Florentine Codex, cited in Miguel León-Portilla, Visión de los vencidos (México, 1967).

  7. See Rafael Pineda Yáñez, La isla y Colón (Buenos Aires, 1955).

  8. According to the anonymous authors of Tlatelolco and the informants of Sahagún, cited in Léon-Portilla, Visión de los vencidos.

  9. Léon-Portilla, El reverso de la conquista: relaciones aztecas, mayas e incas (México, 1964).

  10. Ibid.

  11. Earl J. Hamilton, American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain, 1501-1650 (1934; reprint ed., New York: Octagon, 1965).

  12. Quoted in Gustavo Adolfo Otero, Vida social en el coloniaje (La Paz, 1958).

  13. These are the words of José de Gálvez, Charles III’s Visitor-General in New Spain, as quoted in John Lynch, Spanish Colonial Administration, 1782-1810 (London: Athlone Press, 1958).

  14. Ernest Mandel, Marxist Economic Theory, 2 vols. (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1968), 2: 443-44.

  15. Ernest Mandel, “La teoría marxiana de la acumulación primitiva y la industrialización del Tercer Mundo,” Amaru (Lima), April-June 1968.

  16. Celso Furtado, The Economic Development of Latin America: A Survey from Colonial Times to the Cuban Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 11

  17. J. Beaujeau-Garnier, L’économie de l’Amérique Latine (Paris, 1949).

  18. Sergio Bagú, Economía de la sociedad colonial: ensayo de historia comparada de América Latina (Buenos Aires, 1949).

  19. Alexander von Humboldt, Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain (London, 1811), Book II, Chapter VII, p. 22.

  20. Andre Gunder Frank, Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America (New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1967).

  21. Alvaro Alonso Barba, Arte de los metales (Potosí, 1967).

  22. Otero, Vida social.

  23. Humboldt, Political Essay, Book IV, Chapter XI. See also Fernando Carmona, Introduction to Diego López Rosado, Historia y pensamiento económico de México (Mexico, 1968).

  24. Don Joseph Ribera Bernárdez (Count Santiago de La Laguna), Descripción breve de la muy noble y leal ciudad de Zacatecas, in Gabriel Salinas de la Torre, Testimonios de Zacatecas (Mexico, 1946).

  25. John Collier, The Indians of the Americas (New York: W.W. Norton, 1947), p. 138.

  26. Emilio Romero, Historia económica del Perú (Buenos Aires, 1941).

  27. Enrique Finot, Nueva historia de Bolivia (Buenos Aires, 1946).

  28. According to a member of the United States Soil Conservation Service, cited in Collier, The Indians of the Americas, p. 53.

  29. Daniel Valcárcel, La rebelión de Túpac Amaru (Mexico, 1947).

  30. Alexander von Humboldt, Ansichten der Natur (Aspects of Nature), vol. II; quoted in Adolf Meyer-Abich et al., Alejandro de Humboldt, 1769-1859 (Bad Godesberg, 1969).

  31. Ernest Gruening, Mexico and Its Heritage (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1928), p. 38.

  32. Arturo Bonilla Sánchez, “Un problema que se agrava: la subocupación rural,” in Neolatifundismo y explotación, de Emiliano Zapata a Anderson Clayton & Co. (México, 1968).

  33. René Dumont, Lands Alive (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1965), p. 10.

  34. “Don Volcán necesita carne humana bien tostadita,” in Carlos Guzmán Boeckler and Jean-Loup Herbert, Guatemala: una interpretacián histórico-social (México, 1970).

  35. As quoted in C.R. Boxer, The Golden Age of Brazil 1695-1750 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1962), p. 163.

  36. As quoted in ibid., pp. 184-85.

  37. Ibid., p. 165.

  38. Esteban Montejo, The Autobiography of a Runaway Slave, ed. Miguel Barnet (New York: World Publishing, 1969), p. 42.

  39. Boxer, The Golden Age of Brazil, p. 219. For further information see Joaquím Felicío dos Santos, Memórias do Distrito Diamantino (Rio de Janeiro, 1956).

  40. Augusto de Lima Jr., Vila Rica de Ouro Prêto: síntese histórica e descritiva (Belo Horizonte, 1957).

  41. Franklin de Oliveira, A tragédia da renovação brasileira. Minas Gerais e São Paulo: a miséria dentro do progresso (Rio de Janeiro, 1970).

  Additional Bibliography for Chapter 1

  Aguilar Monteverde, Alonso. Dialéctica de la economía mexicana. México, 1968.

  Banco de Comercio. La economía del estado de Guanajuato. México, 1968.

  _______ La economía del estado de Zacatecas. México, 1968.

  Baran, Paul A. The Political Economy of Growth. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1962.

  Cañete y Domínguez, Pedro Vicente. Potosi colonial: guia histórica, geográfica, politica, civil y legal del gobierno e intendencia de la provincia de Potosí. La Paz, 1939.

  Capitan, L., and Lorin, H. El trabajo en América, antes y depués de Colón. Buenos Aires, 1948.

  Capoche, Luis. Relación general de la Villa Imperial de Potosí. Madrid, 1959.

  Chávez Orozco, Luis. Revolución industrial — revolución politica. México: Biblioteca del Obrero y Campesino, n.d.

  de Martínez Arzana y Vela, Nicolás. Historia de la Villa Imperial de Potosí. Buenos Aires, 1943.

  Elliott, J. H. Imperial Spain. London, 1963.

  Furtado, Celso. The Economic
Growth of Brazil. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1963.

  Galeano, Eduardo. Guatemala: Occupied Country. New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1969.

  Gerbi, Antonio. La disputa del Nuevo Mundo. Mexico, 1960.

  Halperin Donghi, Tullio. Historia contemporánea de América Latina. Madrid, 1969.

  Hanke, Lewis. Estudios sobre fray Bartolomé de Las Casas y sobre la lucha por la justicia en la conquista española de América. Caracas, 1968.

  Hawkes, Jacquetta. “Prehistoria.” In Historia de la Humanidad. Buenos Aires: UNESCO, 1966.

  Huamán Poma. “El primer nueva crónica y buen gobierno.” In El reverso de la conquista: relaciones aztecas, mayas, e incas, edited by Miguel Léon Portilla. México, 1964.

  Manchester, Allan K. British Preeminence in Brazil: Its Rise and Fall. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1933.

  Marmolejo, Lucio. Efemérides guanajuatenses, o datos para fomar la historia de la cuidad de Guanajuato. Guanajuato, 1883.

  Molins, Jaime. La ciudad única. Potosí, 1951.

  Mora, José María Luis. México y sus revoluciones. México, 1965.

  Mousnier, Roland. Los siglos xvi y xvii. Historia general de las civilizaciones, edited by Maurice Crouzet, vol. 4. Barcelona, 1967.

  Ots Capdequí, J.M. El estado español en la Indias. México, 1941.

  Quesada, Vicente G. Crónicas potosinas. París, 1890.

  Ramos, Jorge Abelardo. Historia de la nación latinoamericana. Buenos Aires, 1958.

  Ribeiro, Darcy. The Americas and Civilization. New York: Dutton, 1971.

  Ruas, Eponina. Ouro Prêto: sua história, seus templos e monumentos. Rio de Janeiro, 1950.

  Simonsen, Roberto S. História econômica do Brasil 1500—1820. São Paulo, 1962.

  Turner, John Kenneth. Barbarous Mexico. 1910; reprint ed. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1969.

  Vázquez Franco, Guillermo. La conquista justificada. Montevideo, 1968.

  Vicens Vives, J. Historia social y económica de España y América. Barcelona, 1957.

  Notes to Chapter 2: King Sugar and Other Agricultural Monarchs, pp. 59-133

  1. According to investigations by Pernambuco’s Instituto Joaquim Nabuco de Pesquisas Sociais, cited by Kit Sims Taylor, “Brazil’s Northeast: Sugar and Surplus Value,” Monthly Review, March 1969.

  2. René Dumont, Lands Alive (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1965), p. 34.

  3. Karl Marx, “On the Question of Free Trade,” in The Poverty of Philosophy (New York: International Publishers, 1963), p. 223.

  4. As quoted in Tadeusz Lepkowski, Haití (Havana, 1968), vol. I.

  5. Manuel Moreno Fraginals, El ingenio (Havana, 1964).

  6. See José Pedro Barrán and Benjamín Nahum, Historia rural del Uruguay moderno, 1851–1885 (Montevideo, 1967).

  7. Enrique Ruiz García, América Latina: anatomia de una revolución (Madrid, 1966).

  8. Fidel Castro, “History Will Absolve Me” (Havana, n.d.).

  9. Quoted in K.S. Karol, Guerrillas in Power: The Course of the Cuban Revolution (New York: Hill and Wang, 1970), p. 224.

  10. L. Capitán and H. Lorin, El trabajo en América, antes y después de Colón (Buenos Aires, 1948).

  11. Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Cannon edition (New York: Modern Library, 1937), p. 591.

  12. Daniel P. Mannix, in collaboration with Malcolm Cowley, Black Cargoes: A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1518-1865 (New York: Viking, 1962), p. 22.

  13. Quoted in ibid., p. 48.

  14. For documentation of this information, see Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1944).

  15. Philip Reno, The Ordeal of British Guiana (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1964), p. 4.

  16. Décio de Freitas, “A guerra dos escravos,” unpublished manuscript.

  17. Esteban Montejo, The Autobiography of a Runaway Slave, ed. Miguel Barnet (New York: World Publishing, 1969), pp. 44 and 45.

  18. Roberto C. Simonsen, História económica do Brasil, 1500-1820 (São Paulo, 1962).

  19. Moreno Fraginals, El ingenio.

  20. Quoted in Rodolfo Teófilo, Historia da sêca do Ceará, 1877-1880 (Rio de Janeiro, 1922).

  21. Agence France Presse, 21 April 1970.

  22. Aurélio Pinheiro, A margem do Amazonas (São Paulo, 1937).

  23. Domingo Alberto Rangel, El proceso del capitalismo contemporáneo en Venezuela (Caracas, 1968).

  24. ECLA, Economic Survey of Latin America, 1969 (New York: United Nations, 1970).

  25. José Carlos Mariátegui, Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality (Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1971).

  26. OAS, Inter-American Committee for Agricultural Development, Peru: Land Tenure Conditions and Socio-Economic Development of the Agricultural Sector (Washington, 1966).

  27. Quoted in Mario Arrubla, Estudios sobre el subdesarrollo colombiano (Medellín, 1969).

  28. Data from Banco Central, Instituto Brasileiro do Café, and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. See Fator (Rio de Janeiro), November—December 1968.

  29. According to a Federal Trade Commission investigation, cited in Cid Silveira, Café: un drama na economía nacional (Rio de Janeiro, 1962).

  30. ECLA, El comercio internacional y el desarrollo de América Latina (México/Buenos Aires, 1964).

  31. Arrubla, Estudios sobre el subdesarrollo colombiano.

  32. Luis Eduardo Nieto Arteta, Ensayos sobre la economía colombiana (Medellín, 1969).

  33. United Nations, Analysis and Projections of Economic Development, vol. III, in Economic Development of Colombia (New York, 1957).

  34. Germán W. Rama, “Educación y movilidad social en Colombia,” Eco (Bogotá), December 1969.

  35. William Howard Taft, as quoted in Gregorio Selser, Diplomacia, Garrote y Dólares en América Latina (Buenos Aires: Editorial Palestra, 1962), pp. 46—47; retranslated from the Spanish.

  36. Quoted in Leo Huberman, Man’s Worldly Goods (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1952), p. 265.

  37. Ibid.

  38. Miguel Angel Asturias, The Green Pope (New York: Delacorte, 1971), pp. 134-35.

  39. Miguel Angel Asturias, Strong Wind (New York: Delacorte, 1968), p. 47.

  40. John Dos Passos, The 42nd Parallel (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1930), p. 252.

  41. William Krehm, Democracia y tiranías en el Caribe (Buenos Aires, 1959).

  42. Speech to the American Booksellers Association, Washington, D.C., 10 June 1963, cited in David Wise and Thomas B. Ross, The Invisible Government (New York: Random House, 1964), p. 166.

 

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