Chavez book pick rockets up bestseller lists

Just like that, huh?

PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) – A book accusing the United States of being a neo-colonial bully in the Americas has rocketed up the sales charts, after a copy was given as a gift by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to US leader Barack Obama.
The book, "The Open Veins of Latin America" was given by Chavez, a longtime US critic, to Obama Saturday at an Americas summit in Trinidad and Tobago.
The English version of the tome, a well-known in leftist political circles, catapulted from 734th place to second place in just 24 hours on the online bookseller Amazon.com.
The work in its original Spanish language had an even more spectacular ascent, from 47,468th place to 283th. It also showed substantial increased sales on the website of online bookseller Barnes and Noble.
The work by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano is about the region's colonial past and exploitation by the world's big powers -- themes hammered constantly by Chavez, who frequently accuses the United States of "imperialist" policies.
Chavez had inscribed the book to his US counterpart with the message "For Obama, with affection."
The Venezuelan leader told reporters Saturday that "this book is a monument in our Latin American history. It allows us to learn history, and we have to build on this history."
Obama on Sunday called the gift "a nice gesture."
"I think it was, it was a nice gesture to give me a book," he said at a press conference at the conclusion of the three day summit. "I'm a reader."
Obama added that recent harsh rhetoric did not mean that the two countries could not engage in civil dialogue.
"It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interest of the United States," Obama said.
Despite its theme, the gift might have been meant as another conciliatory gesture from Chavez, whose country is a major oil exporter to the United States.
Hours after giving Obama the book, the Venezuelan leader said he was naming Roy Chaderton, Venezuela's current representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), to be his new ambassador to Washington.
The job had been open since September, when Chavez kicked out the US ambassador to Venezuela and Washington responded in kind.