Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett wants the Organization of American States (OAS) to be more mindful of the continually growing gap between rich and poor in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Addressing the 44th Session of the General Assembly of the Organi-zation of American States (OAS) in Asuncion, Paraguay on June 4, Rodrigues-Birkett told the gathering that the income gap in the Region remains one of the highest compared with other regions.
“Without a doubt, there have been some encouraging developments towards greater equity and social cohesion in the hemisphere. The middle class has expanded by 50%, the region was able to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty down to 13 % and some 70 million people were lifted out of poverty,” the minister said. She declared, however, that “notwithstanding these successes, nearly 28 percent of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean are surviving on $2 per day or less.” Meanwhile, according to Rodrigues-Birkett, “the richest ten percent of
