Washington File - December 6, 2000
Eric Green - Washington File Staff Correspondent

Miami -- Latin America has the opportunity to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the deadly disease known as AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) which has afflicted many parts of the world, especially Africa, says Brady Anderson, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In remarks at a December 6 luncheon of the Miami Conference on the Caribbean and Latin America, Anderson said AIDS is not yet a public health "catastrophe" in the region, "but we should act now before it becomes one." He appealed for a "concerted effort" on the part of governments in the Western Hemisphere and the world's donor community to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Americas before it is too late. Anderson told his audience that "you can certainly count on the support of the United States" in this effort.

Besides fighting HIV, as well as tuberculosis and malaria, USAID's activities in the region also involve bridging the gap between the rich and poor, beginning with access to education, said Anderson.

"We know that in the 21st century that it is virtually impossible to build a market economy without an educated population, especially one that is comfortable with information technology," he said. Under a Clinton Administration initiative to use the Internet for economic development, USAID is working with four countries in the region -- Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica and Guyana -- to help bridge what is called the "digital divide," meaning the gap separating those with access and knowledge of information technology from those without such access, Anderson said.

As an example of this, Anderson said that in Guatemala USAID is helping a Mayan women's cooperative organization to sell traditional Mayan handicrafts over the Internet. In Jamaica, he said, USAID is helping that country develop its telecommunications industry.

But the digital divide also means the "opportunity gap" between the wealthy and the underprivileged must be reduced, Anderson asserted. He said that although the number of years of schooling in Latin America rose 45 percent from the 1970s until the 1990s, the gap between the quantity and the quality of education received by the rich and poor has continued to increase. Anderson said USAID is addressing this disparity by investing in teacher training in the region and helping countries to improve and monitor their education performance.

But Anderson warned that education, "while critical, must be accompanied by economic reform," which he said "plays the key role in attracting the revenue that a country and a government need to shore up their education systems."

One way to boost the economy, Anderson said, is to generate wealth in the region, which can be done by "making it easy for people to start their own [small] businesses." USAID is helping to start these small businesses by providing them loans, often as little as only $40, he said. Since 1991, USAID has provided over $253 million in micro-enterprise loans to Latin America to over 700,000 people, with a loan repayment rate of almost 95 percent, Anderson said.

But micro-enterprise programs, "as effective as they are, cannot succeed without macro-economic reform," Anderson argued. To stimulate economic growth, he said, Latin America must attract and keep foreign investment. That is why USAID is working closely with Latin American leaders to update their commercial laws and other legislation that affects trade and commerce.

In addition, USAID is committed to helping Latin America strengthen its judicial systems, which Anderson said are often "cumbersome, slow and anachronistic." Some legal codes in the region, he said, date to the last century and are not equipped to deal with modern criminal activity such as cyber-crime and money laundering.

The luncheon's keynote speaker, Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, said globalization has brought the Caribbean "more challenges than benefits."

The reduction of trade barriers, he said, "has eroded a principal source of public revenue, and has exposed our industries to competition -- often unfair and unequal." This has resulted in "losses of economic activities, losses of jobs, and even the demise of certain traditional industries" in the Caribbean, he added.

Mitchell said he believed that a "new framework for cooperation is required for the small economies of the hemisphere if we are to benefit from the globalization process and the developments that are emerging."

On the positive side, Mitchell said that electronic commerce is creating new opportunities "to increase the efficiency of the way we do business in the Caribbean." The Internet, he concluded, "is expanding the choices and options of both suppliers and consumers, and is transforming dramatically the production, distribution, marketing, sales, and delivery of goods and services in many areas."

001206
US001208

Copyright © 2000 - US Information Agency. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the USIA.

ÆGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, iMetrikus, Inc., the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2000. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

ÆGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1990, 2000. ÆGiS & the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. All materials appearing on ÆGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGIS and the Sisters of Saint. Elizabeth of Hungary, or the party credited as the provider of the content.