Chávez' gift to Obama makes Galeano a superstar

Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent in the English version) is surely the most famous book of E. Galeano, a classic of Spanish-language literature even few decades after being written. It narrates in black humor tones, by means of historical anecdotes, the colonialist and neocolonialist plundering of the other America, the one south of Río Grande, since Colombus' times.

This masterpiece was ranked number 52,295 by sales in Amazon last friday and by Sunday morning it was ranked just second. This in regard to the English-language edition, the Spanish version is surely better known and, while has also grown, it has done so less spectacularly (possibly because it can be obtained at most local bookshops and libraries and also because many already own a copy).

When in 2006, Chávez pronounced his famous discourse at the UN General Assembly, claiming that the podium, that had been used by GWB still smelled to sulfur, he carried a copy of one of Chomsky's book, also sending it to the bestselling rankings.

You may agree or not with the Venezuelan leader but no doubt that he is a great book-seller.

Source: Rebelión.
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A death and a birth

A death:

Basque author Elías Amezaga has died at the age of 86. He was a prolific author in Spanish language that tried to adress Basque identity and dig in obscure subjects. For a complete list of works, including chronicles of the lifes of Lope de Agirre and Jorge Oteiza, see Basque Wikipedia: Elías Amezaga. Check also his website: http://www.eliasamezaga.com/.

Elías Amezaga

A birth:

Another Spanish-language author, Uruguayan, Eduardo Galeano, has published a new book: La Historia que Duele (The History that Hurts). A long excerpt is available today at Gara newspaper (in Spanish). Some less extense translations of my own are:

World Trade Organization.

It was necessary to choose the god of trade. From the Olympic throne, Zeus studied his family. He didn't need to ponder for long: it had to be Hermes.

Zeus gave him sandals with golden little wings and put him in charge of promotion of mercantile exchange, signature of treaties and the safeguard of free trade. Hermes, who later, in Rome, was known as Mercury, was chosen because he was who lied best of all.

News agencies.

Napoleon was definitively defeated by the English at the battle of Waterloo, south of Brussels.

Marshall Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was honored with the victory, but the real winner was the banker Nathan Rotschild, who did not fire a shoot and was far away from there.

Rotschild was at command of a minuscle troop of carrier pidgeons. The doves, fast and well trained, carried the news to London. He knew before anybody else that Napoleon had been defeated, but he spread the rumor that French victory had been decissive, and deluded the market by selling everything that was British: bonds, shares, money. And in a rush all imitated him, because he always knew what he was doing, and at junk prices they sold all values of the nation they believed defeated. And the Rotschild bought. Bought everything for nothing.

That way England won in the battlefield and was defeatd in the stock market.

Banker Rotschild multiplied his fortune by twenty and became the wealthiest man in the world.

Some years later, at the middle of 19th century, the first press agencies were born: Havas, that is now France Press, Reuters, Associated Press...

All used carrier pidgeons.