ABSTRACT
After decades of experimenting with these free market models, Latin America continues to be one of the most unequal regions of the planet. Moreover, in most countries of the region, neoliberalism has increased both prior inequalities in income distribution and the external debt. In Latin American countries, more than 30 percent of total per capita income (35 percent in several countries) is concentrated in the top income decile. In contrast, the share of total per capita income corresponding to the poorest 40 percent of households falls between 9 percent and 15 percent (ECLAC,
2006; SEDLAC, 2006). For large sectors of the region’s population, particularly in the ‘heavily indebted poor countries,’ inequality is associated with high levels of unemployment, underemployment, malnutrition, high rates of disease, and overall poverty. Presently, about 205 million Latin Americans, about 45 percent of the total population, are living in poverty. Among them, about 79 million are below extreme poverty, living in indigence (ECLAC, 2006). This is the context in which adult educators, for example, face a reality of 40 million illiterates. In Latin America, poverty cannot be understood in isolation from inequality. Likewise, poverty reduction programs can be effective if they address issues of inequality and promote redistributive policies. (ECLAC, 2006; ECLAC/UNDP/IPEA, 2002).
