Despite the growing social and economic inequities, Galeano remains hopeful that there are enough examples throughout history of resistance led by the region’s marginalized people to encourage future structural change. Part 3 is a 25th-year anniversary edition addition to the original book, which features Galeano’s reflection on how political and economic circumstances have only worsened in Latin America since he last published the work seven years ago. The evolution of capitalism in a global market also enables the US to exercise protectionist policies for itself while wielding the power of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to keep Latin American countries economically dependent on the US. While the Spanish and British featured prominently in the first part of the book as foreign figures with power and control over Latin American exports, it was eventually the US that took over as the most dominant Western country overseeing the region’s production. Eventually, the Europeans would mine the lands for silver, tin, and petroleum before forcing a monoculture of sugar and coffee production. It was the discovery of gold in Latin America that captured interests of Spain and other European countries.

The arrival of the Spanish brought violence, disease, and forced labor to the native people of Latin America.

In Part 1, Galeano provides a comprehensive overview of how Spanish colonization of the Americas led to the continuous exploitation of its resources in present-day Latin America. Open Veins of Latin America : Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. In three parts, Open Veins of Latin America tackles different aspects of Latin American political and economic history, beginning with the discovery and exploitation of resources of Latin America, the transition from primarily European to US foreign investment in the region, and a reflection on Latin American politics seven years after the book’s first publication. Eduardo Galeano sets out to write a book that will incite the most marginalized people of Latin America towards a social revolution in which there will be the “overthrow of its masters, country by country” (281).

Open the veins of latin america