Colom to Develop Rural
Guatemala
As announced in his
inauguration speech,
Guatemalan President
Alvaro Colom is to
travel Thursday to Ixcan,
a distant bordering
region with Mexico, to
launch his rural
development plan.
That municipality, with
over 579 sq miles of
territory and 90 percent
of the population from
different Maya groups,
was one of the most
threatened by armed
conflicts and one of the
poorest zones of the
country.
"Ixcan is in peace
today, but needs
development," said the
statesman in his
swearing-in ceremony
this week, where he
promised to improve
situation in the
countryside.
The initiative, included
in the program for the
first 100 days of
government, predicts the
delivery of
micro-credits through
cooperatives, and the
creation of a rural
development council and
services like education
and health.
Colom, engineer by
profession, promised to
start a process of
change to a
social-democratic
government that fights
poverty and insecurity.
Although he does not
predict deep changes
like agrarian and tax
reform, his arrival to
power is seen with hope
after 50 years of
rightwing military and
civil governments.
Fifty-one percent of the
Guatemalan population
lives in extreme poverty
and 49 percent of
children are
malnourished, most of
them from the rural
area.
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