Our writer

10.Jul.2009

GALEANO RECEIVES “ORDEN DE MAYO”

Eduardo Galeano received the “Orden de Mayo to Merit” at a commander degree from the Argentine government, which he considered “a homage to our shared life” and “solidarity between the two Río de Plata nations”.

Upon receiving the distinction, one of the highest that Argentina awards foreign visitors with, Galeano remembered his time in exile in Buenos Aires, where he founded the magazine “Crisis” a “jubilant celebration of culture lived as a collective communion”

Galeano insisted on union between the countries on both sides of the Río de la Plata and claimed that “maps of the soul have no borders.” “Solidarity was, and still is, a question of common sense and therefore was, and still is, the most natural thing in the world” said the writer.

The award was given by the Ambassador of Argentina in Uruguay, Hernan Patiño Mayer, in an event that was held in the embassy in Montevideo. Mayer gave the distinction to Galeano for his use “of the written word”, which he does with the “mastery and courage of the chosen ones”.

Among the guests was senator and Frente Amplio presidential candidate José Mujica, who the author received with the greeting “good afternoon Mr. President”.
Other friends of Galeano also went to the event, such as composer Daniel Viglietti, painter Carlos Paez Vilaró and Macarena Gelman, granddaughter of the poet, Juan Gelman.

"Las venas abiertas de América Latina" (the open veins of Latin America, 1971) is the most well known work of Galeano, in which he denounces the plundering of the riches in the American continent during the Spanish conquest and then later under the influence of The United States.

On April 18th of this year, the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, gave a copy of the book, considered cult reading by the Latin American left wing, to American president, Barack Obama in the V Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. Soon after that the book was positioned among the 10 most sold books in Amazon.com

Eduardo Galeano was born in Montevideo on September 3rd in 1940; he still lives in the city and was declared an illustrious citizen on June 11th 2008 in recognition of his transcendence in contemporary critical thought.

Added to that, on July 3rd 2008 he received the first distinction as an illustrious citizen of Mercosur, a regional organization integrated by Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, for his role as a great thinker, essayist and intellectual in Latin America.

Galeano received the Casa de las Americas award on two occasions for his books "La canción de nosotros" (Our song, 1975) and "Días y noches de amor" (Days and nights of love, 1978).

In 1982 he published “Los Nacimientos” (The births) the first volume of the Trilogy “Memoria del fuego” (Memory of fire) that was followed by “Las Caras y Las Máscaras (faces and masks) and “El siglo del Viento” (the century of the wind) in 1991 according to news agency EFE.