Chavez Gives Obama Book —on Colonial Oppression

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a Spanish-language book today about the historical ravages visited on Latin America by colonial powers, Politico reports. The English title of the 1971 book by Eduardo Galeano is The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. The gift came as Obama met with Chavez and other Latin American leaders.

It follows the two leaders' handshake last night, when Obama greeted Chavez in Spanish, the AP notes. "I think it was a good moment," Chavez said about that encounter. "I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous US president." Obama remained noncommittal about a formal meeting, saying only, "I think we're making progress at the summit." (More President Obama stories.)