Gold, Öl und Avocados: Die Neuen Offenen Adern Lateinamerikas

by Andy Robinson

In seinem Klassiker "Die offenen Adern Lateinamerikas" stellte Eduardo Galeano bereits 1972 »Wir Lateinamerikaner sind arm, weil der Boden, auf dem wir stehen, reich ist.« Galeanos Buch war ein Standardwerk für eine ganze Generation von Linken, die zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts in vielen Ländern Lateinamerikas die Macht übernahm, darunter Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa oder Hugo Chávez.Was ist seither in diesen Ländern geschehen? Andy Robinson folgte einigen der Reiserouten, die Galeano vor 50 Jahren genommen hat, und ist mit einer Sammlung persönlicher Reportagen voller Humor und klarer Worte zurückgekehrt. Jede Geschichte nimmt einen Rohstoff in den Blick, etwa Eisen, Gold, Öl, Soja, Rindfleisch oder – neuerdings – Avocados. Die Ausbeutung dieser Ressourcen veranschaulicht das Dilemma, mit dem der Kontinent konfrontiert Wie kann man gerechtes Wachstum erreichen und Armut mindern, ohne dem Fluch der Abhängigkeit vom Rohstoffexport zu erliegen?Robinson blickt in die noch immer offenen Adern Lateinamerikas und beschreibt schonungslos, was er sowohl ökologische als auch menschliche Katastrophen, die durch den Kampf um Ressourcen im frühen 21. Jahrhundert verursacht werden.»Mit Soja aus dem entwaldeten brasilianischen Cerrado werden die Hühner in der Massentierhaltung gefüttert, aus denen die allgegenwärtigen McNuggets von McDonald’s produziert werden. Die traurigen Rinder, die, nachdem Motorsägen und Feuer ihre Arbeit getan haben, auf dem Großgrundbesitz im Amazonasgebiet weiden, versorgen Burger King mit Fleisch. Aus den Kartoffeln, dem Nahrungsmittel der großen präkolumbianischen Zivilisationen des andinen Altiplano, werden jetzt die süchtig machenden Potato Chips von Frito Lay (PepsiCo), die die Epidemie der Fettleibigkeit in Lateinamerika fördern. Die weltweit in Mode gekommene Guacamole zwingt der mexikanischen Region von Michoacán, der Wiege des Reichs der Purépecha, eine Avocado-Monokultur auf, die vom organisierten Verbrechen gemanagt wird.« – Zitat aus dem Buch

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Economics, Politics, Microhistory, Latin American

Paperback

Reviews

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: colonialism, capitalism, environmental destruction for the sake of the previous two, destruction of First Nations lands

I was really excited to read this, and there were definitely plenty of "...huh, I'd never thought about that" moments throughout. But at the same time, I kind of wish it had been more...settled?...in terms of location. Each chapter jumps around in terms of location, sometimes from Brazil to Mexico to Venezuela and back to Brazil again, and it was all a little...chaotic to try and keep straight in my brain.

The most interesting chapters to me were the ones about food production and the impact that demand in the Global North has had already on Latin America. Avocados. Beef. Quinoa. Soy beans. All utterly horrifying to read and pretty eye opening.

That being said, I wish there had been some kind of concluding overview chapter to wrap everything up.

[Michael Lindgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding political and cultural history that lays out the way South America has been systematically exploited by the West through resource extraction and economic imperialism. It ain't exactly a laff riot but this is the kind of serious reporting and analysis that we need if we are ever going to implement some kind of equality to the financial ecosystem of the Western hemisphere. Vital and necessary.

[Randall Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't quite what I expected. It's still an interesting book - informative about recent South American politics and economics.

Robinson's narrative focuses more on economics than natural resources as implied in the title. Natural resources (+ commodities) is the warp woven through each chapter.

That said, Robinson's narrative is rather polemical. Don't know why that surprised me but it did. I had not previously read anything he has written. Maybe if I had, I would understand the polemical slant. The polemics didn't bother me. Just wondered why he told the story the way he did. Believe his case would have been stronger without so much of it.

Robinson faithfully recounts the exploitation of South American natural resources and commodities by internal and external economic interests, specifically by North American and Western European multinationals and their co-opted native stooges. His economic arguments about resource extraction follow the analyses of Lenin, Walter Rodney, et al., so not much new mined there. However, he provides abundant examples in South America to demonstrate equivalence with those ideas. It's well-researched, -reported, and -written.

Was not familiar with Eduardo Galeano who the author quotes and cites numerous times throughout the book. If that fact illustrates my ignorance of Latin American late-20th century economic development, that's maybe why I find this book polemical. I'll certainly add "Open Veins of Latin America" to my list.

Ok, so it's not a book about gold, oil and avocados per se. It's about exploiting, managing, distributing, and preserving resources in South America for indigenous and native peoples' benefit. This is heady stuff represented in an easy-to digest and easy-to-read form. It was a book that made me think so that's a big positive in my evaluation.

[Patrick Pilz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess the core message of the b00k is capitalism sucks and socialism ain't better. Andy writes about human activity in almost every country of Latin America related to mining, oil exploration and growing food commodities. The world he depicts shames corporate America as much as the regional political powers.

The book has some common villains, such as Brazil's Bolsinaro who is a recurring actor in the vicious world of Latin America. Andy's book is very detailed and seems to be well researched, but it does not leave much hope. It is depressing and at times too detailed to bring the actual point across.

At the end you feel that there is not a single thing you can enjoy or consume without feeling guilty of the ever so innocent indigenous or native inhabitants of these poor countries. I think a similar book could have been written about Asia or Africa. The book can be also written about the exploitation we endure in Europe or North America, where the income gap grows and power of the poor diminishes.

The book is well written and readable, but definitely not enjoyable and a little one-sided.

[Álvaro Seseña]

Aunque el librero me advirtió que el libro era algo antiguo (2020), coincido con él en que es un excelente ensayo. Resulta especialmente valioso para comprender temas relevantes en América Latina, como el extractivismo, el debate en la izquierda latinoamericana entre crecimiento y conservación, y cómo el negocio de las materias primas en estos territorios no solo provoca la destrucción del medioambiente, sino que suele ir acompañado de explotación, corrupción, crimen organizado y miseria. (9,5/10)

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...la sensación que tuve en mis viajes por América Latina fue que el joven Galeano se había quedado corto en sus denuncias de la desturcción provocada por las fuerzas del capitalismo global en alianza con las élites y oligarquías locales. El saqueo no solo ha ocurrido en el ámbito económico de la extracción de materias primas, sino también en la extracción del alma de los pueblos, cuya cultura -esa filosofía quechua del sumak kawsay o del buen vivir- es aniquilada en un proceso imparable de mercantilización. De sus vidas y de las nuestras."

Andy Robinson

[Chris Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

Under researched, over simplified, and clunky.

[K. Citlaly · Rating 4 out of 5]

obviously could never top open veins of latin america, but i liked the way robinson used galeano’s works as a reference throughout

most chapters could have benefited from more details (eg the history is broad, stakes are generalized, the mentions of the danger are superficial), imo, but they get the point across. in the chase for money, nothing else, including lives matters. kinda left me depressed lol would have loved a conclusion exemplifying more of the positive examples of resistance and resilience

[Edward Silverman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library as it sounded interesting and I want to mix in some nonfiction with my preferred genre reading. It was very interesting in that it compared with a fiction book, holdout, that I just read where the central character is resisting Brazilian deforestation. The author approaches the subject with a jaundiced eye that many people will tell you is justified to multinational corporations and the exploitation of the natural resources of Latin America. Each section lays out some history and describes the current situation. It doesn’t necessarily despair but also doesn’t offer much in terms of solutions other that to exhort the governments to either value add before selling resources or gatekeeper better. As sad as it is, probably not much will change anyway but I did find this book eye opening in expanding my understanding of these issues.

[Iván · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro interesante. El autor sigue la inspiración de Eduardo Galeano y de su clásica obra Las venas abiertas de América Latina. Se analizan diferentes lugares y materias primas en cada capítulo. Hay capítulos brillantes
No obstante, el autor es muy parcial, apenas critica la corrupción endémica y/o los desastres económicos provocados por los populismos de izquierdas en lugares como Venezuela, Bolivia o Brasil. Los malos y los problemas siempre vienen de fuera, sean Estados Unidos, las multinacionales o los europeos y la clase media local que denuncia los excesos populistas de izquierdas es en muchos casos vista despectivamente por el autor. Sorprende y mucho que no se haga ninguna crítica a China y a sus empresas con su presencia en América Latina.

[Tuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es muy interesante, pero a veces se echan en falta citaciones o fuentes. Genial la idea de la separación por secciones y capítulos de forma temática.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essential reading for anyone who follows Latin America with any degree of seriousness. Extremely well researched and detailed, Robinson chooses 16 of the region's main products and delves into how they have failed to lift Latin America out of poverty and massive inequality. Robinson makes no new revelations but linearly sets out the story of everything from peyote to copper, avocados to diamonds, showing how unstable politics, driven by the massive socioeconomic inequality in the region, turns success into failure. His main point seems to be that leftist regimes need to drive economic growth and lift poverty yet fall victim to both far leftists who want to preserve indigenous ways of life and the environment and the neoliberals pushing unfettered business. The failure of Latin America to export finished goods instead of raw commodities, thus exposing their economies to continuous cycles of boom and bust, is a valid point that he also makes. I wrote about a lot of this stuff for the ten years that I lived in and covered the region. Nothing has changed, the tragedy of Latin America. Throughout the book, Robinson harps on Eduardo Galeano's classic "Open Veins of Latin America," appearing to want his work to be seen as the successor to that classic. It gets annoying and gives his book a definite leftist bent. It's a well-written, impressive work of reportage. Highly recommended.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded to 4 stars.

A touch more editing would have likely made this a four star review for me. Lots of clunky sentences, misspelled words, missing punctuation, and even a few bad translations from Spanish all added unnecessary confusion to an otherwise well-researched book. I appreciated Robinson’s approach to journalism and his familiarity with the context in the situations that he analyzed. Having personally visited several of the Mexican locations referenced here, I can attest that the picture he presents is accurate! Overall a good introduction to many of the issues facing Latin America today.

[Rajesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

(First of all I listened to the audiobook version; which wasn't on Goodreads.)

It was a walk through Latin American history through the lens of commodities. Each of which has an interesting history. The story remained the same throughout though - resource extraction, corrupt politics, people participating in the global economy with all its pluses and minuses. Overall, not that great. This book didn't exactly open my eyes to the foods I eat, the chemicals I use, or the hydrocarbons that I burn much more.

[Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written and full of information that will be useful for following the evolving political and economic situation in Latin America, especially climate change.

[Manish Agarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history of key commodities in Latin America and the role of politics and western world. Pity that many of these countries have not been able to capitalise on them.

[Irene (Einlesewurm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gran lectura para todos los amantes de Galeano. Una reinterpretación del célebre libro, varias décadas después, incluyendo el análisis del rumbo tomado por algunos de los gobiernos de izquierdas de la región. Lamentablemente nos deja ese poso de pesimismo, que no es otra cosa que la cruda realidad de millones de habitantes, sujetos a la voluntad de las políticas de mercado.

Como "pero" diría que se centra mucho en algunos países, sin nombrar apenas a otros. Pero entiendo con ello que muchas de las situaciones y políticas que describe se repiten y perpetúan en los países colindantes.

[Adolfo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigue los pasos de Galeano pero no los alcanza. La denuncia del abuso e injusticia es siempre actual. El tema es el que ha regido este mundo, la explotación de los recursos naturales y humanos, por los de siempre y sin ver otra posibilidad de cambios radicales en el horizonte.
Leyendo este libro se puede clarificar que las esperanzas de un mundo mejor se agotan si el ser no cambia. Pareciera que estamos en un camino sin salida.

[Esteban Mulki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un recorrido por lo profundo de América Latina que te cachetea, te hace reflexionar y te frustra, todo en partes iguales. Relatos cautivadores sobre problemas complejos de dificil solución abordados desde la mirada de distintos actores (todos parados desde la misma vereda, eso sí...)

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente lectura de la situación de Latinoamérica que nos hace ver que en todos estos años poco hemos aprendido de los errores del pasado. Cobra mucho más sentido la célebre frase “los latinoamericanos somos pobres porque es rico el suelo que pisamos”.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buenísimo. Documentado, muy entretenido y mordaz. Un gran homenaje a Galeano.

[Valen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. The author did a great research and manages to explain it very clear. Worthy of being called “The new Open Veins of Latin America”.