Poverty is one of the most widespread issues facing the world today. It is a complicated topic to asses as there are many factors that contribute to the spread of poverty and solutions to combat the problem. The issue of poverty is most severely present in the Global South. I would like to use this blog to discuss poverty in Latin America.

According to a World Bank report in 2006 in Latin America alone people are living on less than $2 dollars a day and out of the 533.7 million people living in Latin America in 2007, 100.5 million were considered poor. Among the poorest countries in Latin America are Haiti, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Jamaica (Human Development Reports). Poverty bears a burden on development and continues to extend the main problems facing the region. Poverty is a global disease that creates other social and economical problems such as high death rates, crime, diseases, malnutrition, instability, and lack of education. For instance, the United Nations estimates that about 25,000 people die every day of hunger; about 2 million children in poor countries die every year victims of pneumonia; and about 1.6 million people die every year because of cholera and dysentery, all consequences of poverty.

Latin American countries have many factors in common that have contributed to poverty such as large amounts of external debt, high levels of corruption, uneven distribution of resources, a history that dates back to colonialism, and lack of technology. External debt causes great hardships in Latin American economies as they take funding away from internal spending, especially social programs such as education and health care, programs that could be solutions to reversing the incidence of poverty. In Latin America the countries’ most heavily afflicted by debt are Brazil and Mexico owing $216,100,000,000 and $ 177,000,000,000 respectively, according to a 2009 report from the CIA. Furthermore, Latin American countries have links with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to aid with their development. However, the agreements with those organizations have proved to hurt Latin American economies. For instance, the high interest rates countries must pay, the organizations interference on domestic affairs, and the strict rules and regulations countries must obey, which threaten the authority of governments and the sovereignty of the countries, have all had terrible consequences in the short and long run. Furthermore, the policies and decisions determined by the IMF, World Trade Organization, and the World Bank have unequal benefits as it favors the developed countries, which are the ones with the power and authority in these organizations.

Another similar characteristic that plays a role in the creation and continuation of poverty is corruption. Corruption is widespread in Latin America and it is no surprise to hear of leaders stealing money or taking bribes for their benefit. Latin America has a high corruption index. Among the worst countries with a high corruption index in Latin America include Haiti, Venezuela, and Paraguay (Transparency International ). Latin America has unfortunately been held back by corrupt governments that have impeded growth and development in countries as corrupt government officials only look out for their interests instead of their citizens. As a result, wealth is not distributed evenly among people and money set aside for projects for education and healthcare are being lost due to corruption.

Furthermore there is an ever growing gap between the rich and poor in these countries. According to the United Nations, the gap between the rich and poor in Latin America is the largest in the world. For instance, the income for the poorest 20% of Latin America is only 3.5% of the whole region while 20% of the wealthiest people hold 56.9% of resources (MercoPress). In the country of Brazil, for example, the gap between the rich and poor is unmistakable evident. While there are millionaires living in cities such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro one can also find people living in impoverished conditions in the slums called “favelas” just outside those cities. In this country the richest 20% receives 30 times more than the poorest 20%. (Gap Between Rich and Poor: World Income Inequality in 2002).

In addition, technology directly influences economic growth and makes countries more efficient. As a result, without proper technology Latin America will continue to lag behind as it will continue to be reliant on the imports of developed countries given that they do not possess the right machinery or technology to provide for their own needs. If this region would invest in science and technology, it would have a tremendous effect on people’s lives, improving their living conditions, infrastructure, and economy. This will increase their economic power and stability, as well as their ability to successfully compete in the world market.

Last, the fact that all the countries in Latin America had been colonized is another important factor that has led to poverty since the start of colonialism in the 15^th century. Latin Americans were exploited at the hands of their colonizers. The colonizers took the regions’ natural resources for profit but did little to help the people or the country. On the contrary, their colonialism and expansionism practices created discrimination, uneven distribution of resources, poverty, corruption, and other problems. As a result, colonization is one of main the reasons why many of these countries have lagged behind in development for centuries.

There have been many efforts to reverse poverty in Latin America. For example, some governments have engaged in extensive trade and successfully opened up to the world market, such with the cases of Chile and Brazil. In addition international organizations like the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations have made specific efforts to combat poverty in the region. For example the United Nations would like to reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, which according to them are people living on less than $1.25 a day, by half the level it was in 1990 by the year 2015. In addition they want to achieve full employment, and eradicate hunger. (United Nations). Other organizations such as UNICEF for example, aids with the protection and development of children and education, which are key focus areas to combating poverty. In addition there are a number of nongovernmental organizations such as the Global Call to Action against Poverty or GCAP whose goal is to end poverty and inequality.

Fortunately, income poverty has been decreasing in the past decades. This is best shown in the graph below

In the future Latin America has to take several steps to continue to reduce poverty. First, education should be a key effort to the solution as it will increase economic growth as more people will be capable of entering the workforce and engaging in more complex jobs that require more skill. Also, governments should finance projects to create new jobs and allow new industries to proliferate. Furthermore countries need to promote health care in order to reduce mortality rates and improve the lives of people. Technology and science should be another area of focus in order to improve living conditions of people and to have the ability to export finished products that would also stimulate economic growth. A better distribution and management of natural resources is much needed in this region as well. In addition, the promotion of trade is a necessary step to take as countries will be able to compete in the world market. I also believe that these countries should cooperate with one another by forming trading blocs to benefit all such as the MercoSur, Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and Andean Community of Nations (CAN), among others.

Furthermore, the help and commitment of industrialized countries is crucial in the development and growth of the region. Industrialized countries should not take advantage of their economic and military power to force these countries into agreements that will not benefit them. Also, industrialized countries should commit to the resolutions and agreements reached through international organizations to help underdeveloped countries. For example, according to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework Plan (UNDAF) 22 developed nations pledge to work toward reducing poverty by donating 0.7% of their national income in international aid. Although some European countries such as Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg and Denmark (all donating more than 0.7%) have already reached their aid target, others are still working to reach that commitment over the next five years such as the case of Spain, France, United Kingdom , and Italy (all donating about 0.5%). However there are some that have ignored the pledges they made and have not even developed a plan of action to reach that goal such with the cases of Switzerland, New Zealand, Japan and the United States.

Last, countries must develop stricter methods to prevent and heavily penalize corruption. It is very difficult to change a corrupt bureaucratic system as most of the time corruption has reached all kinds of levels including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches who do not want to lose their status quo and benefits acquired through decades of corruption. Thus, a radical change is needed to wipe off the polluted system. If the necessary steps are taken along with the cooperation of international organizations and developed countries, the gradual reduction of poverty may well be accomplished in the future.

CIA. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2079rank.html

Gap Between Rich and Poor: World Income Inequality in 2002. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908770.html>.

Human Development Reports. 8 April 2010

MercoPress. http://en.mercopress.com/2010/03/27/gap-between-rich-and-poor-in-latinamerica-is-largest-in-the-world-says-un

New Poverty Estimates for Latin America. http://www.depeco.econo.unlp.edu.ar/sedlac/archivos_informe/20090528122839AM_brief_1.pdf

Poverty http://poverty.com/

Transparency International http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table

United Nations. 2009. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals