Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Humahuaca (Agenzia Fides) – Bishop Pedro Olmedo of Humahuaca, in union with the priests of his diocese, has issued a statement expressing his “deep concern for the serious poverty, unemployment, and general lack of protection being suffered by a large part of the population in the northern part of the Province of Jujuy and in the Valleys...” The statement “is not seeking confrontation, but rather that immediate solutions be found for the problems that characterize the lives of many people.”
Bishop Olmedo find the claims of the rural population to be legitimate, as well as the intent being made by both parties to dialogue, although they are still not enough. This problem, he says, does in fact exist and “there is a serious need to study it and to solve it,” however it is not a problem that affects the majority of citizens and “there are other problems that are more grave and that are making more people suffer anxiety.”
He says that “there are people dying from insufficient medicine, doctors, and care in our hospitals and health care centers, which often lack the most basic necessities.” And “those who work with children say that malnutrition, which appeared to be under control, is on the rise.” Thus, “life is becoming a struggle, it is becoming a hard challenge for the majority of the inhabitants,” and inflation rates grow every day. The Bishop is also worried about “the high unemployment in our areas, where there are no small, medium-sized, or large companies that can remedy it and it continues to be on the rise.” Regarding the mines in the area, the unemployment crisis is not being resolved and is creating more problems. “The mining companies, who obtained the permissions for exploiting the area, do not usually comply with the requirement to exclusive contracting, or at least majority contracting of the people in the immediate area, and even bring in a large number of foreign workers. Neither the companies nor the government is complying with the basic norms of prevention against environmental contamination.” In addition to all this is “the failure of many social plans, as they marginalize many who survived on the miserly benefits of those plans.”
The Bishop stated, “allow us to make a public declaration that in this our homeland, rich in resources and a generous producer of food products and consumer goods, capable of feeding several hundred million people...extreme poverty continues at full force, and continues to claim victims, continues affecting the lives of millions of Argentineans.”
Another serious problem that is affecting many people is that of the internal migration and immigration (to other countries). “Due to a lack of adequate policies,” the text says, “the rural communities are emptying into the neighborhoods and slums of the city, with the consequential problems of overcrowding, lack of suitable living, alcoholism among the youth, a loss of ancestral and communal values...” There is also “the migration movement towards the south, in search of work, also with the following problems: the first being, the uprooting of the family and of the values of cultural identity.”
The Bishop also observes the “great loss of values (on a personal, familial, and cultural level) and the lack of respect for human dignity that is evident in the struggle among the poor themselves, the struggle to survive.” In addition, among the people there is a “sense of distance between them and those who govern, as well as their lack of concern for the real problems affecting the people and the lack of serious projects that can offer a response to the vital needs of the people.”
“Is it not time that we leave aside other ambitions and all work together to find solutions to the serious and urgent problems of the present situation of so many thousands of people?,” the Bishops asked, at the end of their appeal made to all those responsible in society. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 05/06/2008)
