Poverty is major threat to democracy in Latin America, says cardinal

Published: 2004-04-14

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Poverty is a major subversive element that is threatening Latin American democracies, said Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa. Poverty is causing security problems ranging from small armed robberies to political uprisings, he said April 13 at The Catholic University of America in Washington. The cardinal also criticized economic globalization, which he said is causing more money to leave Latin American countries -- through foreign debt payments and royalties to foreign-based multinational companies -- than is entering the country through exports. "Poor countries are the most effective and generous financiers of the rich countries," he said at a talk sponsored by the university's Hispanic Pastoral Leadership Program, founded in 1999. The program is part of the School of Theology and Religious Studies, and offers theology courses taught in Spanish to people involved in Hispanic ministry.

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