In Latin America and Africa, following one path to economic justice

Published: 2007-09-28

LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- A developing country went deeply into debt in the 1970s and was obligated by international lenders to establish free-market policies in the 1980s. However, the country continued to borrow to service a heavy debt burden. Today, mining is one of its main economic activities, but despite high international prices for minerals much of the population lives in poverty. When Jesuit Father Peter Henriot presented that scenario to pastoral workers in Lima in late September, he was not talking about Latin America, but about Africa. Father Henriot, director of the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection in Lusaka, Zambia, sees lessons for Latin America in the African experience, and he sees the Catholic Church's social teaching as a path to social and economic justice for both continents. Developing countries that are rich in natural resources are a "sad paradox of wealth in the midst of poverty," said Father Henriot. He drew comparisons between Zambia and Peru. In both nations, mining is one of the main economic activities and, with international prices high, it is feasible to drill for oil and mine metals in places where it would not have been cost-effective 10 or 15 years ago. "The biggest challenge in Africa and Latin America can be expressed in the question, 'What is our understanding of development?'" Father Henriot said.

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