After doing some research I found out that Hugo Chavez is the President of Venezuela and has been since 1999. He was born in 1954 and grew up in poverty. He attended a military academy at the age of 17 and found it to be his passion. He graduated at the top of his class and started his career as a military man. In the early 1980's he helped founded the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 and exerted his energy towards bringing down the corrupt government of Venezuela at that time. He worked to include groups of indigenous peoples and later in his career he would create laws protecting the rights of these people. In 1992 he unsuccessfully led a coup de et against the government. Despite his failure, in the years to come he continued to gain the support of many people and was able to win the presidential election of 1999. He has fought long and hard to obtain equal rights and abolish social injustices.
I think the reason he would give Open Veins of Latin America to President Obama is for the main purpose of wanting us as Americans to gain a greater awareness and understanding of the of Latin America, and also Americas interesting involvement in that history. One of the of the greatest things I have realized from this whole experience is how little I know of what is going on in the world around me; how little I have actually taken the initiative to learn about. There are so many things/people that I have heard about in passing but never thought twice about how he/she/it is related to the world. It so easy to hear something and say, "wow, thats so sad(or interesting, or amazing, or terrible)" and leave it at that. By giving President Obama Open Veins of Latin America he is inviting us as Americans the opportunity to get past that; to actually know the history of Latin America and its current state and hopefully take action.
2. Galeano writes in his introduction, "Latin America continues to exist at the service of others needs, as a source of reserve oil and iron, of copper and meat, of fruit and coffee, the raw materials and foods destined for rich countries which profit more from consuming them than Latin America does from producing them." What examples from Guatemala can you provide that would serve as evidence for Galeanos words?
Coffee is a perfect example of what Galeano is talking about. The people that actually cultivate and harvest the coffee make a significant amount less then those who buy and then sell. I am also reminded of the Finca system. The workers that work the land of a finca are paid almost nothing, treated terribly, and are practically slaves. The profit from the work they do is taken by the land owner and they are left with practically nothing.
3.Galeano writes on page 7. "Poverty is not written in the stars; underdevelopment is not one of God's mysterious designs." How does Catholic Social Teaching attempt to resolve this issue?
I love this quote and I believe it wholeheartedly. It is not Gods doing that there is poverty and underdevelopment in this world. This is all the doing of centuries of selfishness and greed; of men willing to take for themselves and leave others with nothing. I also believe that because things aren't meant to be this way that it is possible for us to change it. What it will take is a change of heart of mankind. I think Catholic Social Teaching teaches very good values and ideas that would make up the heart of a world without poverty. The four pillars of Catholic Social Teaching are: Solidarity, Dignity of the Human Person, Subsidarity, and the Common Good. All of these promote selflessness and equality. The pillar that at this moment sticks out to me the most is the Common Good. This is thinking about what will be good for all people not just one person or group of people. It says that all people are worthy o good and entitled to it.
4.Galeano finished on page 8, "History is a prophet who looks back: because of what was, and against what was, it announces what will be." What does this mean? Why are they important?
History tends to run in a cycle; it repeats itself. I think what this quote means that we can tell what the outcome of something will be if we look back in history because something similar has probably occurred before. I think this is very important because if we can realize this then we can help make our outcomes better. One of my favorite quotes goes like this, "If you always do what you've always done, you're always gonna get what you've always got" History doesn't have to repeat itself, but we have to change what we are doing.
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