Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina – A Eulogy to South America

“Without stories, we wouldn’t be human at all” – Phillip Pullman

So the question is… what is the story behind two cups of coffee?  Can a cup of coffee tell you a story that will adjust the lens in which you view the world and your place within it?

Yes.  It can, it has done and it will continue to do so. 

This particular story is told in the masterpiece of South American literature, Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina (translation: The Open Veins of Latin America), written by the Uruguayan master Eduardo Galeano.  It’s modus operandi, is to plunge deep into the history of the land mass that includes South & Central America and the Caribbean islands, and to lay bare the horrors of it’s past: from the destruction Hernan Cortez, Pizarro and the Catholic church wreaked upon the Incas and other indigenous tribes (mass genocide and the burning of all their buildings, art and artefacts in the name of God and greed), to United Fruits™ and the wastelands created by this North American company with their avarice and myopic monoculture farming strategies (Mmm we love those Ecuadorian bananas, the Colombian coffee and Brazilian sugar no?).  The book is painfully well-researched, sparing us none of the gruesome truths about how the western world profited from the capitulation, rape, enslavement and exploitation of these (previously) abundant lands.  Perhaps this passage affords a clearer picture…

“Our defeat was always implicit in the victory of others; our wealth has always generated our poverty by nourishing the prosperity of others— the empires and their native overseers. In the colonial and neo-colonial alchemy, gold changes into scrap metal and food into poison” – Eduardo Galeano

For centuries, Latin America has been the teat at which the western world has suckled.  The gold and silver of Zacatecas and Potosi, hand in hand with the aforementioned alien crops of coffee, sugar and bananas have fed both the bellies and aspirations of these western countries and their exponential physical and economic growth.

‘Jeez Jack, why the downer?  Why not tell us how utterly amazing everything is?’  Well friends, because I feel the dialogue of this 1978 publication must continue to be discussed.  I can’t tell you how alarmed and ashamed I was to visit the Museum of Human Rights in Santiago, Chile and learn about General Pinochet, (a man given political asylum by my country) and of the atrocities administered during his hellish and illegal reign (Torture of dissidents? Check.  Murder? Of course! Disappearances? Say the word baby!).  Or that the Capoeira acrobatic dance we so enjoyed watching in Itacaré, was actually designed by the Angolan slaves in Brazil to disguise a fighting technique they were honing, in which to rebel against their merciless Portuguese enslavers.  The story of Latin America is a history of violence.

Galeano continues:

“Latin America is the region of open veins. Everything, from the discovery until our times, has always been transmuted into European— or later United States— capital, and as such has accumulated in distant centers of power. Everything: the soil, its fruits and its mineral-rich depths, the people and their capacity to work and to consume, natural resources and human resources.”

The above cup of coffee is a rarity.  Despite Columbia, Ecuador and Costa Rica growing some of the finest coffee on the planet, finding a cup of the local fare is difficult.  Really difficult.  Why? Because it is all exported to the west, just as the above quote illustrates.  The Latino nations actually import the cheaper (maybe inferior, I have not tried it) Vietnamese coffee, rather than enjoy its own.  Utter economic madness! 

This story, however, has not yet concluded.  You see, we are now the authors; Galeano handed us the torch.  Our choices define the world in which we inhabit, whether through the governments we elect, or the products we consume.  Choices matter.  The manic, raving, street-preacher within me wants to hand a copy of this book to every excited, travel drunk gringo and gringa who boards a plane for Latin America, imploring, “READ IT! IT IS AN OBLIGATION!”  (N.B. The current Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, handed a copy to Barack Obama during a diplomatic visit – cunning, daring and astute, may I say). Reading this book has had the most profound effect upon us and how we have conducted ourselves on this magnificent continent.  We understand that these newly liberated countries have finally found the infrastructure to self-govern and, despite a violent past, have woven stronger social fabric for its citizens and visitors.  A simple example: President Morales of Bolivia has resisted western corporate pressure for mining contracts aimed at the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni – dissidents of the right of his own country say that this is slowing economic growth.  I don’t care: the victory here is that Bolivia has the liberty and means to have this level of diplomatic and economic dialogue. 

Latin America astounds the senses.  I don’t need to write another blog about a particular experience or geographical locus, as I hope we have served you with enough to allow you at least a fleeting glimpse into the wonders of this continent.  No, I wanted to champion history and the stories of this vast and ancient landscape and its populace.  Our learning of these stories have had a deeply profound affect upon the journey and as we now leave South America, boarding a vessel to traverse to other Americas, we thank Galeano and the people here, for the stories.  We hope you have enjoyed the journey; this is not the end of our adventure, as aforesaid, but a reflective entry felt intrinsically ‘right.’  Has the blood flow been staunched and the veins closed?  Perhaps.  What is certain is that History will again serve as our tutor, but it is a powerful and reassuring thing indeed to know that we each possess the potential to add a syllable, a word or even a sentence into this great tome.

America Latina: Gracias, te amamos y nunca te olividaré – Thank you, we love you and will never forget you.