Open Veins of Latin America

In the introduction to Open Veins of Latin America, author Eduardo Galeano describes Latin America as “the region of open veins” (18) as all its resources flow outward towards the US and Europe. Galeano proceeds to discuss the historical development of this relationship between the US, Europe, and Latin America.

In 1961, US President John F. Kennedy established the Alliance for Progress to facilitate peaceful economic relations between the US and Latin America. This relationship was based on the US administering economic aid through the establishment of loan programs. While aid generally has positive connotations, the loan programs ultimately create a system of dependency between Latin America and the US and Europe. In reality, a history of colonialism had set a precedent for the economic exploitation of Latin America. Furthermore, economic dependency not only exists between the US, Europe, and Latin America, but also within Latin America, where larger countries wield control of smaller ones. This “endless chain of dependency” (19) has a deep origin that begins with colonialism and extends into the present as a more complicated series of inequities.

The present-day world attitude towards Latin America is that the region is “menial” and “in service of others’ needs” (18), namely US and European ventures.