41 million Latin American people have escaped poverty since 2002

A new study says that Latin America has lifted 41 million people out of poverty since 2002. The report from Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean gives a breakdown on the amount of progress each country within Latin America made in cutting the poverty rate. The study sites Argentina, Venezuela and Peru as the front runners.

From Monsters and Critics, we find out more of the study's contents.

In Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Panama the reduction was around 10 per cent, where income distribution was also greatly improved.

'There is a generalized trend towards the reduction of poverty, with the exception of Costa Rica,' ECLAC's executive secretary Alicia Barcena said.

The progress, which still leaves Latin America with some 180 million poor, was accomplished by countercyclical fiscal and social policies.

'This is the first time in history in which Latin America managed to reduce poverty immediately after an economic crisis like that of 2008-9,' Barcena noted.

"Richest man in the world" tries philanthropy

Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world, don't worry about him though. Carlos Slim has made billions in Latin America through tele-com, banking and construction. Slim is now putting some of his money into philanthropic efforts to improve education and health. He has found that doing good has its own set of unique challenges and has had to change or even scale back efforts.

From the Business of Giving blog at the Seattle Times, author Sandi Doughton introduces us to the newest philanthropist.

The fledgling Carlos Slim Health Institute has pulled back from its original, ambitious goal of targeting all of Latin America, a representative said at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health meeting in Seattle this week.


"Now, we're working largely in Mexico and Central America," said Victoria Márquez-Mees.

It's not clear how much Slim is devoting to health projects, but he has pledged a total of $6 billion for all three of his foundations, including ones targeting education and economic development. Forbes estimated his net worth at $53.5 billion, compared to $53 billion for Gates and $47 billion for Warren Buffett.

Among Slim's health priorities are improving maternal and child health, reducing the burden of chronic diseases and bringing innovation to primary health care, Márquez-Mees said. As a man who made much of his money in telecommunications, Slim is pushing the use of wireless and mobile technology to bring health care to remote areas.

The institute is also funding genomic research on diabetes, cancer and kidney disease, focusing exclusively on Latin Americans.

The question of who will benefit is one that the institute asks about every proposal, Márquez-Mees said.

Education is a major focus to promote healthy lifestyles.

"We're trying to get away from doctors and help people understand how they can take of their health without the use of a doctor," she said.

Poverty of indigenous people worldwide

A new World Bank study focuses on the poverty of indigenous people around the world. The report says that indigenous people only make up 5 percent of the world's population, but make up 10 percent of the world's poor.

Statistics in the World Bank report shows that Asia has made great strides to reduce the poverty of it's indigenous people, mostly coming from the boom economies of China and India. Meanwhile, Latin America has shown a slow progress.

From this IPS article, writer Marguerite A. Suozzi gathers some reaction to the report.

"The level of poverty that has been reduced in Asia is significant," said Harry Patrinos, a co-author of the study and lead education economist at the World Bank. He attributes these positive results to broad-based economic growth programmes in each country which aim to reduce poverty nationally.

China "started with a much higher level of poverty than any country in Latin America, yet the indigenous populations', the minority populations' poverty reduced by more than 17 percent between 1990 and 2002," said Patrinos. "But we also have a more rapid change in India, as compared to Latin America, where there is a lack of progress," he said.

The report cited the lack of development indicators for indigenous peoples as "a major hindrance to both their empowerment and poverty reduction," and seeks to narrow these gaps "by estimating several key development indicators related to progress under the Millennium Development Goals for indigenous peoples around the world."

But the definition of "development" by the development community, and the definition of "development" held by different native peoples may be one challenge in moving forward.

"Widespread, sustainable, economic growth is required to target poverty reduction," Patrinos told reporters on Monday, as are programmes designed to be specifically relevant to indigenous communities' needs.

Examining wage gaps in Latin America

A new study from the Inter-American Development Bank examines wage gaps between ethnic groups and genders. The bank says that the study's findings suggest that education must improve for ethnic minorities in Latin America.

From Starboek News, we read more results from the study.

According to the findings, Afro-descendants and indigenous people earn 28 per cent less than their white peers; males earn 17 per cent more than females when both have the same age and level of education; and education is key to reducing ethnic wage inequalities in the region.

In an unprecedented analysis of household data from 18 nations in Latin America, the study found that women and ethnic minorities are clearly at a disadvantage, an IDB news release said.

Females earn less

Females in the region earn less than their male counterparts even though they are more educated. A simple comparison of average wages indicates that men earn 10 per cent more than women. But once economists compare males and females with the same age and level of education, the wage gap between men and women is 17 per cent.

For seven countries where ethnic data is available, the study found that indigenous and Afro-descendant minorities earn on average 28 per cent less than the white population in the region, when individuals have the same age, gender and level of education. It considered “minorities” people who declared themselves in household surveys as indigenous, black or brown, or speakers of an indigenous language. Despite being the majority in some countries of the study, these groups are considered “minorities”.

The paper provides evidence that the region still faces major challenges in eradicating disadvantages in labour markets based on characteristics like gender or ethnicity.

“Polices aimed at reducing these inequalities are still lacking. This is more than just a moral necessity. It is an essential strategy to reduce poverty in the region,” said IDB economist Hugo Ñopo, the lead author of the study.

One Third of Latin America will meet the MDGs

One third of Latin America is likely to meet the Millennium Development Goals according to Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. In an interview with IPS she says the goals of child health and primary education will be met. Barcena talked to reporter Suzanne Hoeksema.

IPS: When talking about the Millennium Development Goals, which Latin American and Caribbean countries are expected to meet which goals and which countries are still lagging behind?

ALICIA BÁRCENA: Chile is doing remarkably well and it will most likely be able to stick to the first MDG, reducing extreme poverty by 50 percent. In Honduras, on the other hand, the situation is worrisome with 49.4 percent of the population still living under conditions of extreme poverty.

Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Panama, Venezuela and Mexico have made considerable improvements in terms of poverty reduction and investing in the poor. However, the distribution of wealth and filling the inequality gap remains a huge challenge, particularly in Brazil and Mexico.

One of the continent's major successes in fighting poverty is the Conditional Cash Transfer programme (CCT) which provides money directly to poor families via a social contract with the beneficiaries – sending children to school and bringing them to health centres. Cash provides emergency assistance, while the conditionalities promote longer-term investments in human capital.

CCT has proved to be notably successful when provided to women. The programme does not only make women more independent, it also benefits other MDGs such as primary school attendance by boys and girls and children's health. I expect that most countries will meet both of these goals.

Unfortunately, maternal mortality remains high. The maternal health MDG will not be easily met. First and foremost in the rural oriented countries, women have limited access to health care or they choose to deal with intimate health issues themselves.

Another disease of poverty: Chagas

This morning Médecins Sans Frontières reminds us of another disease that strikes people in poverty called Chagas. The disease is mostly concentrated in Latin America but there have been a few cases reported in other areas of the world. Chagas kills 14,000 people a year needlessly, as there are drugs that were developed a long time ago that can treat the disease.

From this MSF press release, we learn more background information about the disease, and a call from MSF to more attention to it's eradication.

MSF calls on endemic countries to end the neglect of Chagas sufferers and support diagnosis and treatment for affected people, rather than focusing solely on vector control. Integrating Chagas care into primary healthcare facilities would improve patient access to treatment. MSF also calls for further Research and Development (R&D) efforts into new drugs, rapid diagnosis tests to use in remote settings and better cure tests for one of the world’s most neglected diseases.

Chagas disease is caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. In most Latin American countries, the disease is transmitted by the ‘kissing bug’ vector, although transmission is also possible from mother to child, through blood transfusions, organ transplants and contaminated food.


Chagas patients may be asymptomatic for years but during the chronic phase of the disease one third develop serious health problems (mainly heart and intestinal complications) that can lead to death. “One of the main problems we have is that for years patients have no symptoms so they do not know they are sick and receive no treatment. Active case detection is essential to find and treat infected people,” explains Dr. Nines Lima, MSF Chagas officer.

About the treatment:
The sooner the disease is detected, the more effective the treatment. The only two existing drugs – benznidazol and nifurtimox – were developed over 35 years ago through research not specifically focusing on Chagas. Although these medicines are very effective in newborn and breastfeeding children, only about 60 to 70 per cent of adolescents and adults are successfully treated. The older the patients are, the greater the likelihood they will experience side effects from the drugs. “Doctors do not treat children, let alone adults, for fear of side effects," said Dr. Tom Ellman, MSF Head of Mission in Bolivia. "We are showing that these effects are manageable in both cases. Leaving patients untreated is no longer ethical.”

Give and take in Latin America

The numbers of those in poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean did a little give and take in 2008. Two million people were lifted out of poverty while three million people fell into extreme poverty.

The IPS Daniela Estrada gives us the numbers on a report from a regional United Nations agency.

According to the 2008 edition of ECLAC’s annual Social Panorama of Latin America report, released Tuesday in the Chilean capital, 33.2 percent of the regional population, or 182 million people, are now living in poverty, 0.9 percent less than in 2007.

At the same time, the extreme poverty rate rose slightly, from 12.6 percent of the population in 2007 to 12.9 percent this year (68 to 71 million people). Factors that played a role in this increase were the rise in inflation, and especially food prices.

Although the region is better prepared than in the past, both poverty and indigence rates could go up in 2009 as a result of the global financial and economic crisis that originated in the United States, said ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) executive secretary Alicia Bárcena at the presentation of the report.

Bárcena grouped the countries of the region according to their poverty levels: low (below 22 percent), medium-low (below 32 percent), medium-high (between 38 and 48 percent) and high (over 50 percent).

The first category includes Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica, the second Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, the third Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Peru, and the fourth Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Paraguay.

Under the present circumstances, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean should "protect the poor, maintain social spending, implement effective employment programmes, and step up the fight against child malnutrition," Bárcena told IPS.

Food Price Hikes Hit Poor Hard says the ECLAC

from the IPS

We haven't had many stories on how the food crisis has effected Latin America. A conference is happening now held that discusses how to cvope with the crisis, and how to help the poor thru it.

"The countries have responded very well and very promptly, but obviously some are facing major difficulties, like nations in Central America that are not only net food importers, but oil importers as well," Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), told IPS.

Bárcena avoided calling the present situation in Latin America and the Caribbean a "crisis", because ECLAC, a United Nations agency, estimates that the regional economy will grow by 4.7 percent in 2008 and by about four percent in 2009, thereby achieving seven consecutive years of growth.

However, she warned about the possible effects, particularly on the poorest segments of the population, of accelerating inflation, which has been increasing year on year.

Over the last year, the consumer price index (CPI), especially for foods, has increased by an average of 16 percent in most of the economies in the region, Bárcena said. CPIs have seen increases of between seven and 30 percent, depending on the country.

The real cost of basic products has increased by 140 percent over the last 25 quarters (six and one-quarter years) in a row, Bárcena said.

ECLAC forecasts, omitting the effects of any measures taken or planned by governments, indicate that if inflation rises by 15 percent, the poverty rate will increase by three percentage points, from 35 percent of the population in 2007 to 38 percent.

Bárcena opened the two-day seminar on "The Food and Energy Crisis: Opportunities and Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean" Thursday, at the ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, with a presentation on food and fuel price volatility in the region.

"One of the goals of the seminar is for countries to compare their plans and policies, and for ECLAC to help on the technical aspects to facilitate early detection of potential economic and social impacts," she said.

Nils Kastberg, the regional head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said he was concerned about the food and "nutritional" security of Latin American children and young people in the present inflationary context.

There are fears that chronic malnutrition (low height for age), in particular, may increase, Kastberg said.

"Food prices will continue to rise until 2015 because of the levels of supply and demand," said Máximo Torero of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), where he is head of the Markets, Trade and Institutions Division and coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean.

"The region’s immediate response to the price hikes was protectionism," Torero told IPS.

"Central America, for instance, tried to create a regional grain reserve, which has dwindled away because experience demonstrates that it can't work. It's very difficult to generate food reserves and fix a stable price," he said.

"Many countries initially instituted price controls, which are a bad idea because they are not sustainable," he said.

"Gradually, countries have implemented better policies that are more market-oriented. They have begun to lower import tariffs and reduce local taxes so that consumers can maintain their purchasing power," Torero said.

"But what is still lacking is a stronger reaction in defence of the poorest sectors. A start has been made on reactivating conditional money transfer programmes, but the value of these is not keeping up with inflation. This is where I think faster responses are needed," he said.

Link to full article. May expire in future.

Region on growth track and poverty in decline

from the Jamaica Gleaner

Economic gains have been seen in the Caribbean and Latin America. This is the sixth consecutive year the region has seen growth. This report says that growth could slow next year, due to inflation. - Kale

The Caribbean and Latin America have posted positive economic gains for a sixth consecutive year, despite the global economic downturn, a United Nations agency said last week.

Regional gross domestic product (GDP) is growing at a rate of about five per cent, according to the latest Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) report.

The report also said while economic growth for 2008 is unlikely to match the nearly six per cent expansion recorded last year, GDP per capita is forecast to grow three per cent in the region, for a fifth consecutive year, marking the first time this has happened in four decades.

Unemployment fallen

The 'Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2007-2008, Macroeconomic policy and volatility' also noted that unemployment has steadily fallen every year since 2003, decreasing from eight per cent in 2007 to an estimated 7.5 per cent this year.

ECLAC said the poverty rate also dropped, slashed by over nine per cent since 2002, on the back of economic growth, falling joblessness, higher quality employment and improved non-wage income, such as remittances.

ECLAC said the region will not be immune to the current global market turmoil, but will be better able to weather the storm due to its economic strength.

"Thanks to GDP surpluses, the area's governments have been able to earmark more resources for public investment and social spending, as well as create bulwarks in case of economic turbulence in the future," it said.

Additionally, the region's countries have substantially cut back their public debt, dropping from 36 per cent of GDP in 2006 to 33 per cent of GDP last year, ECLAC said.

Link to full article. May expire in future.

Latin Americans' climb out of poverty threatened; Years of progress are being eroded by soaring prices of fuel and grain.

from the Houston Chronicle

This shows the effect of rising rices i Latin America. The countries that are not large importers of oil have had the worst effects. -Kale

Byline: MARLA DICKERSON

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Are exploding oil prices about to burn Latin America?

With the largest petroleum reserves outside the Middle East, the region has been on a roll in recent years.

Record exports of crude oil, as well as grains, fueled economic growth not seen since the 1970s. The region's stock markets roared. Easier credit spawned a consumer class that snapped up homes and cars.

About 26 million Latin Americans climbed out of poverty between 2002 and 2006, according to U.N. data.

But the same forces behind that new prosperity are now, paradoxically, creating misery.

Surging fuel prices have ignited inflation throughout the region, driving up the cost of food, whose prices were already on the upswing thanks in part to ravenous global demand for Latin America's farm products.

In some countries, a gallon of gas now costs more than a typical day's wages.

The region's food prices have escalated an average of 15 percent over the past year, according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prices of many staples have increased much more than that.

The increases are leeching workers' paychecks and eroding years of progress against hunger and indigence.

Food riots have erupted in Egypt, Cameroon and Burkina Faso, in West Africa. Poor consumers have staged demonstrations in India and Indonesia to protest cuts in fuel subsidies.

"There is a whole combination of factors that are putting a tremendous amount of pressure on the poor," said Carlo Scaramella, who heads the World Food Program in El Salvador. "We haven't had an economic shock of this magnitude in years."

Maria and Jose Lopez, who live with their three children in a two-room cinder-block house perched on a hillside in this gritty Central American capital, are among those feeling the strain.

Earlier this year, they scraped together $148.50 for a down payment on their own place in this hard-luck area, aptly named "Thin City." But their dream of home ownership has vanished. The new priority is simply to eat.

Like other low-income people, they spend the largest chunk of their wages on food. Eggs, rice and beans have all jumped by more than 30 percent in the past few months, cutting deeply into the family's $500 monthly income.

Jose, a laborer, pawned his wedding ring to buy groceries following a short bout of unemployment.

Maria, who works weekdays in the central market downtown, cadged a loan from her employer. She recently took a weekend job as a domestic.

They pulled the two oldest children - Laura, 14, and Kimberly, 10 - out of Catholic school. Only Bryan, 7, is attending classes. The family can no longer afford $17 a month tuition for each girl on top of their debts, child care and ballooning food bills.

GRIM FIGURES

In 2007, at least 500,000 people in El Salvador and Guatemala toppled into poverty, the United Nations' World Food Program estimates.

Across Latin America, an additional 15 million people could fall back among the region's 190 million poor if prices keep rising at their recent pace.

If gas and grocery prices continue their relentless climb, at least 100 million people worldwide may be sucked into the same downward spiral, the World Bank estimates.

Latin Americans agree further details for Bank of the South

from Eurodad

"A new regional development bank for South America known as the ‘Banco del Sur’ will be launched with an initial capital fund of $10 billion”, finance ministers and other representatives of seven Latin American countries announced in late June. A statement released on Friday by the Argentine Economy Ministry said that the Bank of the South has entered the final stage of its formation. The ministerial meeting in Argentina followed one in Ecuador where technical options for operationalising the bank were discussed.

The decision on the initial capital fund was taken at a meeting in Buenos Aires attended by economy ministers, deputy economy ministers and other representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Also last week - in Quito - the Ecuadorian government and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs assembled officials from central banks and other relevant ministries of the Bank of the South’s founding governments. They discussed details of how to start up the new Latin American development bank and agreed a detailed outcome document. The meeting also included selected international experts and civil society resource people, including representatives of Latindadd and Eurodad.

In 2007 the “new wave” of Latin American governments decided to set up a regional bank to foster regional growth and fight poverty. They wanted to reassert their independence from global financial institutions and exercise international political leadership. Central bankers want to bring their countries’ money – international reserves accumulated in times of rising oil and commodity prices – back home. Social movements and civil society groups that for decades have been fighting social and economic injustice in the continent and the role of outside institutions are contributing to shape this new development bank. They want to make it a champion of the fight against poverty in a continent torn by appalling economic and social inequalities. One third of Latin American people are officially classified as living below the poverty line.

The big picture of what the new bank should do is clear, but agreeing the details of how it should fulfil Latin American peoples’ hopes and expectations is less easy. It offers a fantastic opportunity to step out from mainstream thinking and think creatively how to build an institution which can go much further and deeper to end poverty in one of the continents with the richest natural resources.

The structure of the bank and the way it will implement issues were discussed in the intense five day discussions last week in Ecuador. Some fifty people gathered to devise options to establish the governance of the Bank of the South, its funding mechanisms, lending instruments and its social and environmental safeguards. There was passion and tension, but also clear results.

Governance and administration

The foundational act of the Bank, signed by the Presidents of the seven constituent countries in December 2007, agreed to grant one vote to each member state. They said there would be no quota system or weighted votes depending on the capital subscribed, thus equalising power imbalances between countries.

Participants at the Ecuador meeting agreed that the Bank of the South should avoid setting up a whole new heavy structure which would be expensive and prone to complicated institutional dynamics. The Bank should instead rely as much as possible on existing country systems and domestic public financial institutions. The multilateral bank would mostly channel loans – and grants – to national development banks and public financial institutions which would keep a leading role in allocating and implementing the projects and programmes supported by the Bank of the South.

Decisions still need to be taken on the executive board of the new institution. Should it be a larger board with representatives from all member states or a smaller one with executive directors representing more than one country? Other issues at stake are whether:

* the board should permanently reside at the Bank’s headquarters or just assemble in Caracas whenever decisions need to be taken.
* the Bank’s staff should be drawn from nationals of its member states (thus supporting regional expertise) or should it open up positions more broadly thus in principle benefiting from the best expertise it could possibly get?
* the Bank should tie its procurement to its member state’s goods and services.

On the latter it is hard to see how the Bank could avoid opening its procurement policy beyond the seven countries that will set it up, but strong arguments were raised on how procurement policies could boost the economies and employment prospects of the participating countries.

Funding mechanisms

The funding mechanisms session at the Quito meeting raised more passion than many others. The major discussion was whether the Bank of the South should raise funds in financial markets – by issuing bonds or opening up to private shareholders.

Based on memories of previous Latin American debt crises, several participants warned against raising funds by increasing the debt levels. These participants suggested that funds could be raised through special taxes on financial transactions, or profits from natural resource extraction. Questions were raised on whether governments would muster the political will to set up such taxes or whether they would yield sufficient volume of funds. Issuing bonds for the Bank of the South could also contribute to the creation of a regional bond market. This could stimulate the use of regional savings and might attract ethical investors from other regions.

There were also concerns on how to generate the special funds, intended to provide highly concessional loans and grants. There was general agreement that ordinary resources should not be mixed with special funds so that the Bank generates a reliable return on its investments and avoids problems such as those faced in the past by the Andean bank. Many emphasised that the Bank of the South should be ambitious in making low-cost resources available for investments with low direct economic or financial returns but high social benefits. Options to replenish the special funds include returns from the Bank’s ordinary loans, grants from international donors; or planned multi-annual replenishments. It may be hard to have this resolved by the time the Bank is initiated although there is a chance that the Bank could benefit from traditional Northern donors who are keen to find multilateral outlets for their aid money and are disappointed with the approaches of the World Bank and other existing institutions.

Lending policies and instruments

Existing multilateral development bank founding charters are general in their aims and objectives, simply referring to broad development purposes. There was widespread agreement in the Quito meeting that the Bank of the South should spell out clearly that the Bank will promote the fight against poverty and inequality. Its founding agreement should specify that it will focus on poverty reduction, reduction of social asymmetries, strengthening the social sector and ensuring food sovereignty and sovereignty over natural resources.

There was more discussion on who should be the channels of the Bank’s financing. It is clear that national governments, regional institutions, and small domestic enterprises should be among the beneficiaries. Larger private enterprises in key sectors may also be financed.

Participants at the meeting agreed that there should be a number of different lending instruments, catering for different needs and objectives. These should range from ordinary loans at non-concessional (or close to market) interest rates for those projects or programmes which were profitable, to concessional loans and grants targeting at objectives with high social returns but not economically profitable. On the latter, concerns were raised that “a bank is just a bank, and not a charity”, so it needs to ensure its financial viability. Having said that, there was a general sense that without putting at risk the Bank’s viability, all efforts needed to be made to make sure that this would be a genuine development bank which would ensure that resources were made available to projects and beneficiaries without access to credit.

The Bank’s loans and grants should not come with any additional strings or conditions. They should also ensure that allocation was made on the basis of need – and avoid the commonly used allocation criteria and indexes used by other multilateral development banks which allocate resources on the basis of the “quality” of a country’s policies and institutions.

Link to full article. May expire in future.

EU, Latin American leaders meet on trade, climate

from Reuters

By Helen Popper

LIMA (Reuters) - Political differences loomed over a summit of European and Latin American leaders in Peru on Friday, threatening to undermine their efforts to fight poverty and global warming.

Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales differed with his regional counterparts over free trade in the run-up to the meeting, while Venezuela's Hugo Chavez ratcheted up tensions in a conflict with neighboring Colombia.

Free trade proponents like Peru are losing patience with skeptics like Bolivia's Morales, who accused Peru and Colombia this week of trying to exclude his nation from talks between the European Union and Andean countries.

"We can advance at different speeds, but let's advance," Peruvian President Alan Garcia said on Thursday, saying his country should be allowed to move faster with the EU.

Morales, a former coca grower, fears free trade deals could hurt peasant farmers in his impoverished country. "We want trade, but fair trade," he told reporters in Lima.

The EU is also holding negotiations with Mercosur, led by Brazil and Argentina, and Central American countries.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the first leaders to arrive for the summit, said after meeting Garcia that the EU was "open, and willing to make the path easier" on trade.

Merkel made no mention of a spat with Chavez, who this week called her a political descendant of Adolf Hitler for implying he had damaged relations between Europe and Latin America.

Chavez frequently insults conservative leaders, especially U.S. President George W. Bush. At a summit in Chile last year, Spain's king told him to "shut up."

Chavez is also embroiled in a dispute with Colombia that raised the specter of war in the Andean region in March. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accuses him of supporting the leftist FARC guerrillas, and soon before leaving for Lima, Chavez said he was reviewing diplomatic ties with Bogota.

Such feuds could dominate the fifth such gathering of leaders from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

They may also struggle to find common ground on how to fight cocaine trafficking, as well as the use of food crops to make renewable biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Brazil is an advocate of the so-called greener fuels, but many poor countries blame them for pushing up food price.

However, the poor nations are increasingly worried about climate change and say rich states must cut carbon emissions.

Peru created an environment ministry this week to help it cope with the impact of rising global temperatures, which are melting its Andean glaciers. Peruvian delegates to the summit will push for more concrete measures to combat climate change.

EU, Latin American Leaders Voice Concern over Food Prices

from Deutsche Welle

The EU-Latin America-Caribbean summit stressed in its final declaration Friday, May 16, in Lima that participants were "deeply concerned by the impact of increased food prices," citing troubled Haiti as an example.

"We agree that immediate measures are needed to assist the most vulnerable countries and populations affected by high food prices," the Lima Declaration said.

European Union Foreign Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in the Peruvian capital that soaring global food prices constitute "a regional challenge." The EU has approved a package worth 117.25 million euros ($183 million dollars) for food aid around the world, she said.

Signed by 60 countries at the end of the meeting, the declaration focused on the fight against poverty and climate change and expressed support for Haiti.

Focus on need in Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, with 70 percent of its nearly 9 million people living in poverty. Six people were killed and a further 268 injured last month in Haiti during riots over high food prices, and the prime minister was forced to resign over his handling of the crisis.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Luis Alberto Moreno, who also attended the summit, noted that his institution has granted loans for $27 million to Haiti to keep down food prices and has created a special fund to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen social networks and develop new technologies.

The Lima Declaration stressed "the efforts by the Haitian government and people to revitalize the state institutions and combat poverty, inequality and social injustices," while acknowledging the need for "urgent and effective continued action by the international community on behalf of rehabilitation and development in Haiti."

Call for distribution of wealth

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called on Latin America to implement "fairer" income distribution policies.

"Overcoming poverty, inequality and exclusion is crucial for the attainment of social cohesion, for sustainable development and for the effectiveness of our bi-regional partnership," the declaration stressed.

"There has to be an income distribution policy that is fairer than the current one in Latin America, and a social policy of cooperation for development that tackles basic structural problems," Zapatero said. "Social spending is also productive spending. Social investment generates wealth."

Economy linked to climate change

Peruvian President Alan Garcia addressed the other intended focus of the meeting, climate change, and mentioned an initiative to tax oil and natural gas to raise money to pay for reforestation.

The final declaration stressed that "environmental degradation and climate change seriously affect" economic growth, "hitting the poor hardest and seriously threatening the prospects" for the world's future.

Of the delegations present at the summit at the National Museum in Lima, 37 were lead by prime ministers or heads of state. Some key European leaders were conspicuously absent, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and prime ministers Gordon Brown of Britain and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy.

Top artists unite in historic concerts to fight child poverty in Latin America

A spectacular lineup of performers including superstars Shakira, Los Tigres del Norte, Juanes, Juan Luis Guerra and Ricky Martin will join tonight in a call-to-action to support millions of children living in poverty in Latin America.

"El Concierto Por Los Niños" ("The Concert For The Children") is organized by ALAS (América Latina en Acción Solidaria), and will take place tonight simultaneously in Mexico and Argentina

Some ALAS co-founders, including artists Shakira and Miguel Bosé; Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helú and philanthropist Howard Buffett, announced a commitment of more than $200 million to address the needs of the more than 32 million poor children in the region.

The concert features some of Latin America's leading artists such as Maná, Alejandro Sanz, Calle 13, Carlos Vives and Fabulosos Cadillacs.

Univision.com will present live streaming of portions of El Concierto Por Los Niños, which will broadcast it in the near future on the Univision television network.

Tonight's free concerts are expected to attract over 300,000 fans.

According to the ALAS' website, the following artists will participate:

Mexico City - Plaza de la Constitución, (Zócalo): Aleks Syntek, Ana Torroja, Babasónicos, Chayanne, David Bisbal, Diego Torres, Emmanuel, Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes, Los Tigres del Norte, Maná, Lucero, Miguel Bosé, Ricardo Montaner, Ricky Martin, Timbiriche & Tania Libertad

Buenos Aires - Costanera Sur: Alejandro Lerner, Alejandro Sanz, Calle 13, Fito Paez, Gustavo Cerati, Carlos Vives, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Mercedes Sosa, Jorge Drexler, La Portuaria, Paulina Rubio, Pedro Aznar And Shakira.

Food prices focus at Peru summit

from the BBC

By Dan Collyns

Leaders from 50 European, Latin American and Caribbean nations are meeting in Peru to address poverty and the rise in world food prices.

There have been few signs of compromise in trade negotiations ahead of the summit. Talks will be held in private.

Simmering regional conflicts in Latin America threaten to overshadow any final agreement.

Some 50,000 police have been drafted in for the summit, the fifth meeting of its kind in 10 years.

Even before his arrival in Lima, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has already ruffled feathers both in Latin America and Europe.

Free trade push

He has upped his hostile rhetoric towards Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and he has accused the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, of being supported by the same German political right as supported Adolf Hitler.

This does not bode well for his talks with the heads of state on Friday when they meet to hammer out their final declaration.

This is probably why Peru's government has made sure that all the meetings are being held behind closed doors.

Political divisions within Latin America are also holding up trade negotiations.

The European Union wants the region to open up their markets, but several Latin American nations are extremely resistant.

Britain's Foreign Office Minister for Latin America, Kim Howells, said it would be a mistake not to liberalise trade.

"In a number of Latin American countries there's a rhetoric which is putting off investment in those countries, no question about it, and I don't think it's doing anybody any good," he said.

"It's certainly not doing the people of those countries any good, but the way to solve it is through dialogue and by keeping our trading markets open."

Direct negotiations

Bolivian President Evo Morales is probably one of those dissenting voices.

On touching down in Lima, he went straight to an alternative forum known as the People's Summit where he played in a football match, scoring a goal. He showed his solidarity with the indigenous and labour groups which had organised the alternative summit, before speaking at the official event.

He suggested Latin American countries hold referendums on whether they would accept a free trade agreement with the EU - which he described as an instrument of domination.

ALC-UE Summit to Tackle Food Crisis

from Inside Costa Rica

World crisis on rising in food prices that, like all calamities, hardest hits poor people, came into the agenda of coming Euro-Latin American Summit Eurolat during recent hours.

The addition of that topic to the agenda of the fifth Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean or European Union (ALC-UE) was announced by Foreign Minister Jose Gracia Belaunde on Friday, in the middle of much international concern on the rising food crisis.

The topic is to be tackled as main in the summit, despite not appearing in the official agenda, which only considers the fight against poverty, social inclusion, climatic change and energy problems, the Minister indicated.

It is a subject that has acquired particular seriousness in the last months, "Garcia Belaunde indicated in a visit to the Museum of the Nation, to headquarter the Summit to take place on Friday and Saturday.

Food crisis has emerged due to food shortage and the increase of food prices, worsened by the abandonment of food harvesting to dedicate earth to produce consumptions for bio-combustible.

Another point to tackle, not present in the agenda, but present in the Summit will be the conversations between Colombia and Ecuador, in search of solutions to the crisis between both countries, since the recent Colombian military attack to Ecuadorian territory.

Garcia Belaunde affirmed that Ecuador Foreign Minister Jose Valencia and Colombian Camilo Reyes will meet here within the framework of the Summit, as part of a process of approach supported by the Organization of American States.

In this event of Heads of Delegation, to happen Friday 16, 46 Heads of State will participate, on a total of 58 delegations.

ECLAC warns of severe poverty in region if food crisis not solved

from Caribbean 360

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, A senior official of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has warned that unless urgent measures are taken to reduce the effects of rising food prices, the cases of extreme poverty will rise in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Executive Secretary José Luis Machinea said that the steep and persistent rise in international food prices has been particularly hard on the poorest in the region, worsening income distribution.

ECLAC has estimated that a 15 per cent rise in food prices will increase indigence by almost three points, from 12.7 per cent to 15.9 per cent. This means that elevating food prices will lead another 15.7 million Latin Americans to destitution and a similar number will also fall under the poverty line, the Commission noted.

However, according to the ECLAC research, if household incomes were to go up by 5 per cent, similar to the average inflation rate in the region, nearly 10 million people would still become indigent due to price hikes, and a similar number would increase the ranks of the poor.

"This is a dramatic situation for a large number of people," Mr Machinea said.

The ECLAC data reveals that the scenario worsens when rising fuel prices are included in the picture, as they push up the price of transportation and public utilities.

"In this context, it is a priority to implement and/or maintain policies focused on diminishing those effects," Mr Machinea pointed out.

He recommended taking measures to buffer food price increases in domestic markets, including reducing tariffs and/or consumer taxes, and/or implementing initiatives to improve income, including subsidies directed at certain sectors, or raising existing subsidies.

Noting that the high food prices "are here to stay", the ECLAC Executive Secretary suggested that countries design medium and long range proposals to increase supply and productivity in a sustainable manner, as well as maintain specific policies focused on low-income sectors.

He also urged developed countries, and mid-income net food exporters, to make an exceptional contribution to programmes and agencies such as the United Nations World Food Programme, which can deliver emergency aid to populations at risk.

Retiring a Cellphone? Recycle it, and fight poverty in Latin America

from the Dallas Morning News

Recycle cellphone, fight poverty in Latin America

At its best, a "think globally, act locally" effort ties together what happens across the globe with what happens across the street. That's the aim of a local recycling project designed to use discarded cellphones in Dallas to help women lift themselves from poverty in Latin America.

The Chiapas Project is focusing its Earth Day campaign this year on the millions of tons of electronic waste, a rapidly growing environmental threat around the world. Old computers, printers and cellphones, with their lithium batteries, end their lives as potential time bombs in landfills. A single cellphone, for instance, contains eight toxic metals – including lead, mercury and arsenic – all of which are capable of polluting land and water.

Some cities and states have pushed policies requiring makers of electronics and computers to participate in take-back recycling programs; several countries have enacted laws to prevent themselves from becoming e-waste dumps.

The Chiapas Project, a nonprofit Dallas organization, is asking corporations, universities and high schools to pledge to collect used cellphones and printer ink cartridges. The items will be refurbished and sold overseas to help fund micro-loan programs in Latin America. The drive, in conjunction with the Grameen Foundation, kicks off Jan. 22 and will run though Earth Day, April 22.

The loans, which are usually less than $100, go to women to establish or expand small businesses. In parts of the world where families live on just a few dollars a day, these loans are highly effective tools to pull people out of poverty. Not to mention that the seed money results from an effort to protect the planet.

What a deal – an act of environmental common sense that also strikes a blow against poverty.HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

Dangerous e-waste ...

• One cellphone in a landfill can pollute up to 132,000 liters of drinking water.

• Cellphones contain at least eight toxic substances, including arsenic, lead and mercury.

• In the U.S., more than 500 million cellphones have been retired.

• An additional 10 million additional cellphones are dumped each month.

... can be recycled for good

• Typical Latin American families earn less than $2 a day.

• With as little as $50, a family can start a new business and a new life.

• The micro-financing repayment rate is about 98 percent.

For more information on how to participate in the Chiapas Project's "recycle to eradicate poverty" program, visit

http://chiapas-project.org.

SOURCE: The Chiapas Project

Poverty Rates Drop in Latin America

from Yahoo Business News

UN: Economic Growth Leading to Lower Poverty Rates in Latin America, Caribbean

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Strong economic growth pushed the number of people living in poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean below 200 million for the first time in more than 15 years, a U.N. commission reported Thursday.

The number of poor decreased by 3.3 percentage points between 2005 and 2006, falling from 209 million -- 39.8 percent of the region's population -- to 194 million, or 36.5 percent, the U.N.'s Economic Commission for Latin America said in a report.

About 71 million people, or 13.4 percent of the population, lived in extreme poverty in 2006, down from 15.4 percent in 2005.

The commission defines "extreme poverty" as households with incomes insufficient to provide food for all family members, and "poverty" as 1.75 times that income in rural areas, and double that income in cities.

"As a region, Latin America and the Caribbean is well-positioned to meet the first target established for the U.N. Millennium Development Goals of halving the 1990 extreme poverty rate by 2015," the Santiago, Chile-based commission said.

According to the report, "Social Panorama of Latin America 2007," a number of countries, including Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil and Chile have already met that goal.

Latin America's economy has grown more than 3 percent a year since 2003 -- the greatest per person GDP growth since the 1970s -- helping to slash unemployment and poverty levels in a majority of countries, the report said.

Extreme poverty is expected to drop to 12.7 percent, compared to a peak of 22.5 percent in 1990, by the end of 2007, the report said. Overall poverty will fall to 35.1 percent of the population by year's end, down from a peak of 48.3 percent in 1990.

Even with those declines, about 190 million people will continue in poverty -- 68 million of them in extreme poverty, the commission said.

UN chief calls for action on climate change, poverty during visit to Chile

from the International Herald Tribune

SANTIAGO, Chile: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for urgent action to fight global warming and poverty during a visit to Chile on Thursday, saying climate change was one of his top priorities as head of the world body.

Ban arrived in Chile on the second leg of a 12-day trip that will also take him to Antarctica. His first stop was in Argentina.

In Chile, the U.N. leader attended a round table on "The Global Partnership for Development" with President Michelle Bachelet and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

"We must be actively engaged in confronting the global challenge of climate change, which is a serious threat to development everywhere", he said at the meeting. "Galvanizing international action on global warming is one of my main priorities as Secretary-General."

Ban also urged developing countries to "continue to create a favorable environment for long-term and equitable economic growth."

He recalled that at the Millennium Summit seven years ago, world leaders "pledged a monumental struggle for lasting development, improved health and education, gender equality and environmental sustainability."

But "today, almost one billion people on our planet still live on less than one dollar a day. Millions of children die every year before reaching their fifth birthday from causes associated with malnutrition. Malaria, AIDS and other infectious diseases are taking their toll on countries that can least afford it," he said.

"Clearly, we are facing an emergency. And we need emergency action," he added.