Book Chavez Gave to Obama Is Used as Core Text on Many College Campuses

April 18: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, hands President Obama the book titled "The Open Veins of Latin America" by Eduardo Galeano.

(By Joshua Rhett Miller, Fox News) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wasn't the first to discover the book he gave to President Obama last week in an attempt to ease diplomatic tensions — college students in the U.S. have been turning its pages for years.

The 317-page "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" has been identified on the syllabi of at least 20 U.S. colleges and universities since 2003, and it's been taught for decades on American campuses.

The virulently anti-American book tells how for 500 years Europe and then the U.S. exploited Latin America, leaving it impoverished and governed by corrupt leaders.