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Eduardo Galeano

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“In this world which is losing faith in so called representative democracy, there are new developments in participatory democracy. These are very interesting developments, reflecting the revitalization of community power with a more and more active presence of minorities in political life, including the presence of women who are of course by no means a minority.”

WorldMeanPoliticalCoursesCommunityInterestingDemocracyThis WorldDevelopmentLosingIncludingActiveMinoritiesRepresentativesVery InterestingReflectingPolitical LifeLosing FaithParticipatory DemocracyRevitalization
Author:Eduardo Galeano
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“The ways of change are dictated by the circumstances of each country, each place and each time. I don't think that arrogant intellectuals should be dictating to the people which way they should be heading. I think we should be listening to the people, see in which directions things are developing. People are walking where they can, not where they want to. But they are walking!”

PeopleThinkingWayWantShouldCountryListeningCircumstancesWalkingDevelopingArrogantCan NotHeadingsDictating
Author:Eduardo Galeano
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“The population becomes the internal enemy. Any sign of life, of protest, or even mere doubt, is a dangerous challenge from the standpoint of military doctrine and national security. So complicated mechanisms of prevention adn punishment have been developed ... To operate effectively, the repression must appear arbitrary. Apart from breathing, any human activity can constitute a crime ... State terrorism aims to paralyze the population with fear.”

HumansHas BeensStatesChallengesEnemyDoubtSecurityMilitaryDangerousCrimeActivityAimMerePopulationComplicatedTerrorismPunishmentDoctrineBreathingInternalsProtestMechanismNational SecurityArbitraryRepressionStandpointPreventionHuman ActivitySigns Of Life
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“Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of our imagination, for our crucial problem has been a lack of conventional means to render our lives believable. This, my friends, is the crux of our solitude.”

MeanLittlesHas BeensProblemRealityAsksImaginationOur LivesPoetSolitudeCreaturesMusicianMy FriendsWarriorProphetCrucialConventionalBeggarBelievableScoundrelsCrux
Book:Century of the Wind
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“Each person shines with his or her own light. No two flames are alike. There are big flames and little flames, flames of every color. Some people’s flames are so still they don’t even flicker in the wind, while others have wild flames that fill the air with sparks. Some foolish flames neither burn nor shed light, but others blaze with life so fiercely that you can’t look at them without blinking, and if you approach you shine in the fire.”

PeopleIfsLooksLittlesPersonsStillsTwoBigsLightFireAirColorWindApproachShiningFoolishFlamesSparksShedFlicker
Author:Eduardo Galeano
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“Celebration of the Human Voice--- When it is genuine, when it is born of the need to speak, no one can stop the human voice. When denied a mouth, it speaks with the hands or the eyes, or the pores, or anything at all. Because every single one of us has something to say to the others, something that deserves to be celebrated or forgiven by others.”

NeedsHumansHandsEyeSpeakVoiceBornMouthsDeserveGenuineDeniedCelebrationForgivenHuman Voice
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“Human rights pale beside the rights of machines. In more and more cities, especially in the great metropolises of the South, people have been banned. Automobiles usurp human space, poison the air, and frequently murder the interlopers who invade their conquered territory -and no one lifts a finger to stop them. Is there a difference between violence that kills by car and that which kills by knife or bullet?" (p.231)”

PeopleHumansHas BeensDifferencesSpaceCitiesRightsViolenceAirCarMachinesMurderSouthFingersHuman RightsLiftsPoisonTerritoryKnivesPaleBulletsAutomobileBanned
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“Our defeat was always implicit in the victory of others; our wealth has always generated our poverty by nourishing the prosperity of others - the empires and their native overseers. In the colonial and neocolonial alchemy, gold changes into scrap metal and food into poison.”

WealthPovertyVictoryGoldDefeatProsperityPoisonNativeEmpiresMetalsAlchemyScrapImplicitScrap Metal
Book:Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
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“In 1492, the natives discovered they were indians, discovered they lived in America, discovered they were naked, discovered that the Sin existed, discovered they owed allegiance to a King and Kingdom from another world and a God from another sky, and that this God had invented the guilty and the dress, and had sent to be burnt alive who worships the Sun the Moon the Earth and the Rain that wets it.”

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“Nothing can be defined or derided on the basis of its origin. The important thing is what is done with it and how far a community identifies with something that symbolizes its favourite way of dreaming, living, dancing, playing or loving. This is the positive side of the world: a constant intermingling that produces new responses to new challenges. But because of forced globalization, there's a clear trend these days towards uniformity. This trend comes largely from the ever-greater concentration of power in the hands of large media groups.”

WorldWayImportantDoneDreamHandsSidesCommunityChallengesClearGreaterGroupsMediaProduceBasesImportant ThingsConstantDancingResponseDefinedThese DaysConcentrationTrendsFavouriteGlobalizationUniformityNew Challenges
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“From the point of view of the economy, the sale of weapons is indistinguishable from the sale of food. When a building collapses or a plane crashes, it?s rather inconvenient from the point of view of those inside, but it?s altogether convenient for the growth of the gross national product, which sometimes ought to be called the "gross criminal product."”

SometimesGrowthViewsEconomyBuildingProductsOughtWeaponsPoint Of ViewCriminalsPlanesCollapseCrashGrossConvenientInconvenientPlane Crashes
Author:Eduardo Galeano
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“The tree of life knows that, whatever happens, the warm music spinning around it will never stop. However much death may come, however much blood may flow, the music will dance men and women as long as the air breaths them and the land plows and loves them.”

KnowsMenMayLongHappensAirTreeBloodLandMen And WomenFlowAnd LoveBreathsWarmSpinningWhatever HappensTree Of LifeSpinning Around
Book:Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
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“To narrate is to give oneself: it seems obvious that literature, as an effort to communicate fully, will continue to be blocked so long as misery and illiteracy exist, and so long as the possessors of power continue to carry on with impunity their policy of collective imbecilization through the mass media.”

GivingLongSeemsLiteratureEffortMediaPolicyMassMiseryOneselfObviousCommunicateCollectivesBlockedImpunityMass MediaIlliteracy
Book:Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
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