Montevideo, April 13 (teleSUR-RHC) Internationally awarded Uruguayan author and journalist Eduardo Galeano died Monday of lung cancer at age 75 in Montevideo, Uruguay, according to local newspaper Subrayado.

The writer of about 35 books, including the “Open Veins of Latin America,” which became a bestseller overnight after the late President Hugo Chavez handed the book over to his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama during the fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009, was born Sept. 3, 1940.

The confirmation of his death was also covered by Spanish daily El Pais and Europe Press. Galeano is considered to be one of the most notable authors of Latin American literature. Among his many works are “Memories of the Fire,” “The Following Days,” and “Guatemala, an Occupied Country.” Galeano distinguished himself as a writer by transcending orthodox genres and by combining documentary, fiction, journalism, political analysis and history.

He once proclaimed his obsession as a writer, saying, "I'm a writer obsessed with remembering, with remembering the past of America and above all that of Latin America, intimate land condemned to amnesia."
He began his career at a very early age. At 14, he was already drawing political cartoons and began his career as a journalist as an editor for the weekly Marcha and later for the daily Epoca.