Causes of Poverty in Cental America & the Philippines

This paper will discuss the roots and causes of poverty in Central America and the Philippines. Both of these regions are underdeveloped and are therefore considered to be part of the Third World. This is particularly ironic in the case of the Philippines, because that nation has seen a great deal of industrial growth during the twentieth century. Nevertheless, the majority of the population in the Philippines live in poverty despite the fact that the nation as a whole is "well above the poverty line" (Pollard 196). This situation exists because of inequalities in the distribution of wealth. In this regard, it can be seen that the wealth of the Philippines is "concentrated among owners and managers of a relatively few well-organized and productive enterprises and land-holdings" while the majority of the people are "engaged in small-scale business and farming" (Wickman 113). As a result, only a small percentage of the population of the Philippines share in the nation's industrial wealth. By contrast, the majority of the people are relatively poor, and, furthermore, the incomes of over 40 percent of the population are "at or below the margin of subsistence" (113). This type of unequal distribution can be seen in the nations of Central America as well. In those nations, which include Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize, few are rich while many are poor. As noted by one commentator in the mid-1980s, "the gap between Central Americ

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e case during the period of Spanish colonial rule, this economic development only benefitted a few members of the Philippine society. In fact, this situation helped increase the wealth of Americans more than it did Filipinos. In this regard, it has been noted that "American sources provided most of the capital investment and absorbed much of the income" (Wickman 114). True development in the Philippines required an effort to distribute the wealth more evenly among the nation's population. However, the self-interest of American enterprises in the Philippines prevented this from occurring. Instead, "there was little incentive to develop local manufacturing to compete with American products that entered the economy duty-free" (114). At about the same time that the United States was gaining economic control in the Philippines, interest began to mount in the strategic and economic opportunities presented by Central America. The United States never came into direct rulership of the Central American nations, as it had in the Philippines. Nonetheless, the United States soon began to develop its economic interests in the region. For the U.S. government, the primary concern in Central America was the strategic value of the area.

Category: Foreign - C