Chavez's gesture turns book into bestseller

2009-04-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CNN) -- The big winner out of this week's Summit of the Americas in Trinidad may be a decades-old book about the exploitation of Latin American people throughout history.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose anti-U.S. rhetoric has included calling former President George W. Bush the devil, approached Obama Friday and handed him a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent."

In just hours, the book, by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, rocketed to bestseller status on online book store Amazon.com.

The English version was at No. 11 on the site's list of top sellers Saturday night. On Friday, it had been No. 60,280.

The book topped Amazon's "Movers and Shakers" list on Saturday -- with a reported 466,378-percent increase in popularity on the site.

It was at least the second time Obama and Chavez spoke at a summit during which Obama made overtures to improve U.S. relations with many of its Latin American neighbors.

After receiving the gift, Obama jokingly said he thought it was a book Chavez had written.

"I was going to give him one of mine," he quipped.

Asked if the encounters with Chavez were paving the way for a meeting, Obama simply responded, "I think we're making progress at the summit."

However, former U.S. ambassador Jeffrey Davidow, an advisor to the president, noted that "a shake and a smile does not constitute a new relationship."

"The president was in a meeting with 33 other heads of state," he said. "He shook hands and smiled, I think, with all of them."

Written in the early '70s and reissued in several new editions since then, the book is an "analysis of the effects and causes of capitalist underdevelopment in Latin America," according to one reviewer, who called it a "passionate account of 500 years of Latin American history, written with drama, humor, and compassion."

Chavez gives Obama a book at summit

2009-04-18T22:45:00.001-07:00

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CNN) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave U.S. President Obama a book Saturday on Latin America.

The leftist leader, who once likened President George W. Bush to the devil, shook Obama's hand and handed him "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano.

Asked later what he thought of the book, Obama jokingly said he thought it was one of Chavez's books. "I was going to give him one of mine," he quipped.

Obama and Chavez are attending the fifth Summit of the Americas, a gathering of representatives from 34 countries.

Asked if the encounters with Chavez were paving the way for a meeting, Obama simply responded, "I think we're making progress at the summit."

On Friday, Obama and Chavez saw each other and shook hands. Chavez's press office said Obama walked up to Chavez to greet him. It called the meeting "historic."

"President Chavez expressed his hope that relations between the two countries would change," it said, quoting Chavez as having told his U.S. counterpart: "Eight years ago with this same hand I greeted Bush. I want to be your friend."

The office said Obama thanked Chavez.

Also Saturday, Obama met with representatives of the Union of South American Countries, a coalition of South American countries, and he is scheduled to attend three general sessions later in the day.

Afterward, he will attend an official dinner and a cultural show.

On Friday, Obama said he is seeking "a new beginning" in U.S. relations with Cuba. "Every one of our nations has a right to follow its own path," he told representatives at the summit. "But we all have a responsibility to see that the people of the Americas have the ability to pursue their own dreams in democratic societies.

"There have been several remarks directed at the issue of the relationship between the United States and Cuba, so let me add this: the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba."

He called for "decades of mistrust" to be overcome, but noted that he has already loosened restrictions on Americans traveling to visit relatives in Cuba and sending money to the island.

Obama said that may be just the beginning. "I am prepared to have my administration engage with the Cuban government on a wide range of issues — from drugs, migration and economic issues to human rights, free speech and democratic reform," he said, underscoring his seriousness by adding: "Let me
be clear: I am not interested in talking for the sake of talking. But I do believe that we can move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new direction."

Cuba is not among the countries attending the summit.

Obama's comments represent a major shift in a U.S. policy that has remained largely unchanged since 1962, when the Kennedy administration imposed
a trade embargo on the communist island.

Chávez for Americans

Chavez's gesture turns book into bestseller

Chavez gives Obama a book at summit