Church Warns
Guatemala-Elect of Poor
Reducing current high
levels of poverty and
violence in Guatemala
should be one of the
priorities of President
elect Alvaro Colom when
he takes office, the
Catholic Church
sustained.
"The new government
should pay attention to
the poorest, as a
considerable number of
them accounted for its
victory," metropolitan
archbishop Rodolfo
Quezada Toruño said.
The cardinal, who plans
to meet with Colom this
week, says the
indigenous population
and families living
along hillsides and
gullies bordering the
capital are the most
vulnerable sectors.
Official estimates
reveal that 51 percent
of the 13 million
Guatemalans live in
poverty, and in rural
areas, it amounts to 70
percent of the
population.
Fighting increasing
violence, which is
responsible for about
5,000 deaths annually,
is another big challenge
for the coming
government in Guatemala,
Quezada Toruño noted.
Colom, who bases his
program in the
anti-poverty fight,
economic growth, and
preventive measures to
face insecurity, has
promised to begin
working immediately to
change that situation. |
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