In 1971, Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano published the book Open Veins of Latin America, a chronicle of colonialism and imperialism in the region. The image of an open vein is literal, in veins of ore, minerals, among other natural resources, that are being extracted and exported out of Latin America and into the United States and Europe. An open vein also denotes bleeding, as in a body. In this case, a continent being bled dry.

More than fifty years later, rich countries acknowledge that development work has to change. The global South should have a greater voice over how economic support could improve their lives. But those in power are still overlooking the dominant economic system that has shaped development.

Read IBON’s paper