Galeano, Eduardo Hughes (1940–)

Born in Montevideo on September 3, 1940, Eduardo Galeano is one of the best-known Uruguayan authors internationally. His books and newspaper columns engage political debates in Uruguay and Latin America and often address U.S.-Latin American relations. He is also recognized as an important voice in the Frente Amplio coalition of leftist parties in Uruguay. Galeano began developing his writing talents at an early age, first with drawings and later with articles in periodical publications. From 1960 to 1964 he wrote for Montevideo's Marcha, where he also served as editor in chief. During Uruguay's military dictatorship (1973–1984) Galeano lived in exile in Argentina and later in Spain. He returned to Uruguay in 1984 and assumed editorial responsibilities at the newly founded periodical Brecha.

Galeano's early fiction includes Los días siguientes (1963) and Los fantasmas del día del león y otros relatos (1967). Later fiction, which depicts a personal encounter with the despised military dictatorship, includes La canción de nosotros (1975) and Días y noches de amor y de guerra (1978). Galeano's most widely read work is Las venas abiertas de América Latina, with more than thirty editions since its first publication in 1971. Rooted in dependency theories popular during the 1960s, this essay presents a history of Latin America as an exploited continent from the time of the European encounter with indigenous inhabitants of America to the late twentieth century. Also noteworthy is the three-volume Memoria del fuego, which provides a comprehensive view of Latin American history and identity through vignettes. This set of books, as well as Las venas abiertas and later writings such as Fútbol a sol y sombra (1995) and Bocas del tiempo (2004), have been translated into English, French, and other languages. Galeano is an active contributor to national and international newspapers and is interviewed regularly on television and radio programs.

See alsoUruguay: The Twentieth Century; United States-Latin American Relations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Works

Las venas abiertas de América Latina. 36th ed., rev. and exp. Mexico, D. F.: Siglo Veintiuno, 1983. Translated by Cedric Belfrage as Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, 25th edition. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1997.

Uselo y tírelo: El mundo del fin del milenio, visto desde una ecología latinoamericana. Buenos Aires: Planeta, 1984.

Memoria del fuego, 4th edition. 3 vols. Mexico, D. F.: Siglo Veintiuno, 1983–1986. Translated by Cedric Belfrage as Memory of Fire, 3 vols. New York: Pantheon, 1985–1988.

El libro de los abrazos. 5th ed. México, D. F.: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 1991. Translated by Cedric Belfrage with Mark Schafer as The Book of Embraces: Images and Text. New York: Norton, 1991.

Nosotros decimos no: Crónicas, 1963–1988. Madrid: Siglo Veintiuno de España, 1989 Translated by Mark Fried et. al as We Say No: Chronicles 1963–1991. New York: Norton, 1992.

Fútbol a sol y sombra. Madrid: Siglo Veintiuno de España Editores, 1995. Translated by Mark Fried as Soccer in Sun and Shadow, 2nd edition. London: Verso, 2003.

Bocas del tiempo. Montevideo: Ediciones del Chanchito, 2004. Translated by Mark Fried as Voices of Time. New York: Metropolitan, 2006.

Secondary Works

Campodónico, Miguel Angel. Nuevo diccionario de la cultura uruguaya: Sepa quién es quién en artes visuales, música, cine y video, teatro, letras y periodismo. Montevideo: Linardi y Risso, 2003.

Palaversich, Diana. "Eduardo Galeano's 'Memoria del Fuego' as Alternative History." Antípodas: Journal of Hispanic Studies of the University of Auckland and La Trobe University 3 (July 1991): 135-150.

Palaversich, Diana. Silencio, voz y escritura en Eduardo Galeano. Frankfurt: Vervuert; Madrid: Iberoamericana, 1995.

Saz, Sara M. "Breath, Liberty, and the Word: Eduardo Galeano's Interpretational History." Secolas Annals: Journal of the Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies 21 (March 1990): 59-70.

                                    William H. Katra

                              William G. Acree Jr.