Economist wants poor countries not to abandon world trade pacts

Published: 2004-02-26

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Underdeveloped countries must not retreat from world trade agreements but work harder to transform them into more equitable systems, said a Costa Rican priest-economist. Trade can be an important motor in reducing poverty in the underdeveloped world, but current systems heavily favor rich countries, said Dominican Father Jorge Chaves, an economic adviser to the Latin American bishops' council. Father Chaves spoke on international trade relations Feb. 24 at the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington. The priest is a professor of ethics and economics at the National University of Costa Rica. Catholics must work to change international trade structures and to overhaul internal conditions in underdeveloped countries that prevent the economic advantages of trade from reducing poverty, he said.

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