2004/04/27
Poverty is the source of citizen insecurity in Latin America
EFE
24 HORAS
A report by NGO Social Watch says that insecurity in the region is caused by poverty, rather than wars or political violence.
United
Nations, Apr 26, 2004. Poverty has become the main obstacle to human security in
Latin America, contrasting with other regions in the world where the threat
comes from armed conflicts or violence.
That is one
of the conclusions in the latest report by Social Watch, an NGO (Non
Governmental Organization) network, launched today at United Nations
headquarters in New York.
This report
has been issued for almost a decade and analyzes whether governments meet their
commitments on social development and the fight of their peoples against
insecurity.
The latest
report, “Fear and Want. Obstacles to Human Security”, tries to determine the
obstacles different populations face when exercising their rights, whether
political, economic, social or civil. Obstacles that prevent people from feeling
secure are usually problems related to intra-regional violence and armed
conflict situations. However, the situation in Latin America is different, since
the main obstacles come from failed economic policies that create conditions for
insecurity, explained Areli Sandoval, a member of the network’s coordinating
committee, to EFE.
“In the Latin
American continent, one of the challenges faced by security is the widespread
poverty situation, as well as the privatization and trade liberalization
economic policies that create patterns of impoverishment”, he said. However, the
organization has detected that most countries implemented programs dealing with
poverty, and although failing to reduce the overall rate, they did achieve a
slowdown in its growth.
This factor
is joined by another one typical of the region: migration, both from rural to
urban areas, and from the cities to countries in the North, mainly the United
States.
“As happens
in Mexico and several Central American countries, the people’s anguish leads
them to seek better opportunities up North, although on the way they face
situations of insecurity for them and their families”.
Another
common factor in Latin America is domestic violence, a problem that affects
countries such as Brazil and which does not receive enough government attention.
In Colombia
poverty is joined by internal violence, which creates severe security issues for
opposition groups.
The report
mentions other countries where armed conflicts are a thing of the past, but
“certain traces of government violence and repression patterns remain, which end
up complicating civil society’s free involvement in politics”, according to
Sandoval.
See the full
report at:
http://www.24horas.cl/detalle.asp?IDC=125237&IDS=1
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