Crisis in Capitalism Strikes Hard at Latin America

The cost of the capitalist economic crisis is very high for the workers of Latin America and the Caribbean where unemployment rose in 2009 to two million, pointing to practically the same number of families that were left in neglect and uncertainty.

The figure was revealed in the last few hours by the International Workers Organisation, a group that states that given the world economic conditions, it is very unlikely that the situation can reverse this year.

At an urban level, the loss of employment taxes is up from 7.5% to 8.4%, which combined with a regional low of 1.8% Gross National Product (GNP) makes for a highly explosive situation.

It’s clear that the outlook has its ups and downs so that the biggest hit is where there is dependence on the United States, or where the authorities have failed to act decisively to face up to the debacle.

Uruguay and Bolivia are the two countries that appear to be are feeling less impact. In fact the citizens of both countries, satisfied by the results, opted in recent elections to keep the same economic, political and social system of the last few years.

In Venezuela, in spite of the fall in GNP, there were also important achievements, seen above all in the constant reduction in the poverty and extreme poverty figures and a better distribution of earnings.

According to the President of the Venezuelan National Statistics Institute, Elías Eljuri, poverty has dropped in the last two months from 27.5% to 24.2%, meanwhile the index of neglected and deserted persons has contracted to 6%, something not achieved in the six decades before that.

On the contrary, in Mexico all the alarm bells went off early in the year, a disastrous one during which the GNP lost 6.7%, the biggest loss in the region, and the unemployment grew to a level of 6.8% in the cities, the most damage done in the construction and industry sectors.

The lack of work in the small Latin American countries is one of their main problems closely followed by poverty and lack of security.

A negative factor is the expulsion of migrants from developed countries. In 2009 alone, the US authorities repatriated 27,000 Guatemalans and 23, 000 Salvadorans, which has a huge economical effect on that country because remittances to families will cease. Those repatriated are returning to their countries without work and carrying heavy debts.

In net terms, the cost of capitalism aggravated by the crisis is very high for Our America and is manifested in these tragic statistics: 18 million unemployed, 190 million living in poverty and another 86 million in extreme poverty, figures that amply illustrate the fiasco of a system that never worked for our people, but was always a good business for the wealthy.

It’s not enough to only invest in education without looking for new formulas with a clear conscience knowing that there are no roads to be travelled alone and as recommended by poets and visionaries, there can only be salvation if we save everybody.

Taken from Radio Havana Cuba