By Eduardo Galeano
Has world justice been frozen in an upside-down position?
The shoe-thrower of Iraq, the man who hurled his shoes at Bush, was condemned to three years in prison. Doesn't he deserve, instead, a medal?
Who is the terrorist? The hurler of shoes or their recipient? Is not the real terrorist the serial killer who, lying, fabricated the Iraq war, massacred a multitude, and legalized and ordered torture?
Who are the guilty ones--the people of Atenco, in Mexico, the indigenous Mapuches of Chile, the Kekchies of Guatemala, the landless peasants of Brazil—all being accused of the crime of terrorism for defending their right to their own land? If the earth is sacred, even if the law does not say so, aren't its defenders sacred too?
According to Foreign Policy Magazine, Somalia is the most dangerous place in the world. But who are the pirates? The starving people who attack ships or the speculators of Wall Street who spent years attacking the world and who are now rewarded with many millions of dollars for their pains?
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This is the master of wordcraft, the royalty of truth. When you read his volume "The Open Veins of Latin America," the painful truth pours in on you without remedy. When you are done it is as if you have been grabbed by the throat, and you know that you must stop this process of destruction. He wipes away the entire facade, and we all stand naked ready to do what is right.
ReplyDeleteI really need to read that book..I've been hearing about it for quite some time..Nothing but huge praise..
ReplyDeleteI loved it that Hugo Chavez pressed that book on Obama. What could Obama do but accept it? (Think he's read it?)
ReplyDeleteIt was a long time ago I read it, or most of it. An immense amount of silver was taken from the mines in South America and it went to create fabulous wealth and cities for Europeans, both in Europe and in the colonized "new" world. Indigenous people were forced to work in the mines, standing in freezing cold water. It really shows how Europe under-developed the Americas as well as the rest of the world.
Just the sheer weight of the atrocities that have been committed for over 500 years in Latein America should be enough to undo anyones callous nature. When you see and have to concede that all he America has done was to rebrand the same and to try to extend the tragic past, it gives you an idea of how corrupt this beast really is - to try to carry on the atrocities.
ReplyDeleteI remember some older men one time saying to me (I will spare you the details) that I had no idea of the depth of depravity of a country which would continue this process - and at that time they were right. Many cannot even conceive of what has been done, and because of this they cannot see any course which our country takes apart from the will of the American people.
Just the sheer weight of the atrocities that have been committed for over 500 years in Latin America should be enough to undo anyone's callous nature. When you see and have to concede that all he America has done was to re-brand the same and to try to extend the tragic past, it gives you an idea of how corrupt this beast really is - to try to carry on the atrocities.
ReplyDeleteI remember some older men one time saying to me (I will spare you the details) that I had no idea of the depth of depravity of a country which would continue this process - and at that time they were right. Many cannot even conceive of what has been done, and because of this they cannot see any course which our country takes apart from the will of the American people.
Just the sheer weight of the atrocities that have been committed for over 500 years in Latin America should be enough to undo anyone's callous nature. When you see and have to concede that all that America has done was to re-brand the same and to try to extend the tragic past, it gives you an idea of how corrupt this beast really is - to try to carry on the atrocities.
ReplyDeleteI remember some older men one time saying to me (I will spare you the details) that I had no idea of the depth of depravity of a country which would continue this process - and at that time they were right. Many cannot even conceive of what has been done, and because of this they cannot see any course which our country takes apart from the will of the American people and many do not even want to see or recognize what is happening.