A piece of news that went unnoticed in mainstream media reveals an interesting trend in the United States.

Just because a picture published last week across the media spectrum, showing President Obama receiving a copy of book from President Chavez of Venezuela, millions of Americans rushed over the past several days to acquire and read a piece of literature that may greatly help our understanding of Latin America.

The book reveals a little known picture of the Southern part of our continent, so vastly hidden from view to all of us up here in the North.

According to EFE, the Spanish-language news services, the book, entitled, “The Open Veins of Latin America”, went from being a book ranked by Amazon as the number 60,280, at the bottom of those least sold, to the very front of the list of the most sold, jumping all the way to position number 14.

Although the book has been around for the past 30 years, available in paperback for just a  few bucks, this week millions of Americans may be becoming aware of it for the first time, and through it aware of a side of Latin America that is not current in our regular news, so distant and oblivious of what happens South of our border.

Eduardo Galeano, an author from Uruguay that is widely known and respected in intellectual circles across North America and the world, collected in his book a chronological history of Latin America, depicting the systematic episodes of  abuse, pillage and exploitation of the land and its people.

Why is to relevant to Americans today?

Not at all because of Chavez and his expert manipulation of cameras-- to which now he has also added books as well as the reputation of respected writers who would refuse to appear in his presence.

It is relevant because through the history presented by Galeano we may begin to discern better why 45 millions of Latinos live today in the US, in yet another painful development of that history depicted by Galeano.

The good, really great news, is that current day Americans are no longer indifferent to this history. On the contrary, they are simply eager to know more about it, as it is gradually becoming our common history.