Central America: Finding New Ways ( 2nd Edition)

[Music] on this narrow strip of land linking the two American continents are the six republics of Central America Guatemala shares its Southern border with El Salvador the smallest country of the ismos and with Honduras further south lie Nicaragua Costa Rica and [Music] Panama Central America lies deep in the tropics and all six countries of hot and humid lowlands but Inland a backbone of tempor Highlands and soaring mountains runs the length of the ismos it was in these Highlands that the Maya established their great civilization here more than 2,000 years ago they first prayed to their sacred fires offering incense to chak and yuns as they asked for rain and a rich crop of maze while Europe was still in the Dark Ages the Maya were at the height of their powers building cities and temples rich with sculpture developing a written language a system of mathematics and a calendar almost as accurate as our own but their civilization died and when the Spanish conquered this land only the Mayan language and religion remained these continue today blending with the Christian culture brought by the Spanish conquerors the people are strongly Roman Catholic and festivals such which is Easter are celebrated in Spanish style [Music] most of the 16 million people of Central America are meso a mixture of Spanish and Indian blood but the Spanish culture dominates for the Spanish ruled here for 300 [Music] years while the conquerors were creating a new Spain in the tropics and growing rich on its profits they were also creating problems s for the future the wealth of the region was built on a labor system which kept most of the people in poverty and today that poverty [Music] remains there is still a vast Chasm between the many who are poor and the few who enjoy most of the [Applause] wealth women who are so poor that they only have one set of clothes seem to live in a different world from those who can shop for luxuries it is very often the labor of the poor that provides the luxuries the heart of the problem lies in the land tenure system the Spanish established a system of Plantation agriculture based on slavery and today most of the larg states are still owned by a few wealthy families and worked by landless peasants The Peasants are no longer slaves but they are not much better off they scratch a living from the soil planting yucka shs and other vegetable crops they are subsistence Farmers that is they rent or just squat on a small piece of land raising barely enough to feed their families such families must use the nearest stream as their water supply here they collect what they need for drinking washing and cooking both Indians and mesos live this way Bound by poverty and carrying on a bare existence [Music] the Indians especially are caught in the past they still follow their old ways burning off the land each year though this degrades the soil the Indian Farmers still winnow their beans in the fields in the traditional manner rice another stapled food is husked By Hand by the women of the Indian families many of the subsistence Farmers still work at least part-time on the great plantations it is here that the wealth of the region is made for crops such as coffee are exported on a large scale but it is the landowners who grow wealthy not the laborers only in Costa Rica are the profits widely shared most Costa Rican Farms are small and are owned by the families who work them so a great many people benefit from a good harvest [Music] but in the other republics Farm Workers receive very little in return for their long hours of Labor however some agricultural laborers have made gains in recent years housing hospitals and schools as well as good wages are now being provided for banana workers in Guatemala Honduras Costa Rica and Panama where there are large Coastal banana plantations bananas were once the chief product of these countries and this earned them the name banana republics the United States has been the Principal market for the crop the American companies handling the trade were once very powerful in Central America but the banana trade has lost some of its importance for dependence on two major crops bananas and coffeee was disastrous a slump in World prices or a bad Harvest could upset the entire economy of the region new crops have therefore been introduced and one of these is cotton which has become a major export in Nicaragua and El Salvador the government of El Salvador has decreed that cotton picking must be done by hand not by Machine this is part of the drive to provide more agricultural jobs the growth of industry is also creating new employment opportunities and many Central Americans are moving to the cities to take jobs in the new factories since agriculture has long been the basis of the Region's economy many Industries are linked to agriculture Guatemala and El Salvador lead the region in manufacturing and most of their goods go to Central American markets this helps to make all six republics less dependent on expensive imports from Europe and North America the natural resources of the region are also being developed dams are being built to produce electricity for the new industrial centers Road building has also taken on a new importance roads are needed to service the hydro projects and the new mining sites large scale mining is taking place in Panama Nicaragua El Salvador Honduras and Guatemala where deposits of such minerals as copper lead and zinc are being exploited the mining is often done in remote mountainous areas and it is having great impact on Indians living in the mountains for it gives them the chance to become skilled workers in spite of such projects there are still many people who remain poor and they are not prepared to suffer in silence meekly eating iguana While others dying on steak and chicken each year the governments of central America face a mounting pressure for change the unemployed in the cities mesos on the land and Indians in isolated Villages are all growing impatient and are demanding a greater share in the Region's wealth land for the landless is one of the basic demands to meet this demand new land is being cleared and some private Estates have been taken over Panama especially has launched a r reform program in which the peasants work as a group to clear the land and build their houses these houses will be supplied with electricity and plumbing although some estate owners have managed to block the reforms thousands of families have been freed from their subsistence way of life as the subsistence Farmers had no real knowledge of Agriculture they are given instruction as well as land even the old are glad to learn new methods for farming can now bring them a cash income there has been an increasing emphasis on agricultural education throughout all six republics schools of agriculture in Costa Rica and Honduras teach a scientific and mechanized approach to farming Farmers must know how to operate machines if they are to profit from the move into the Machine age Honduras and Guatemala in common with the other republics have a number of technical schools where students are trained to service and maintain machinery and where courses are given in mechanical civil and electrical [Music] engineering the Need For Education basic as well as technical education has become a high priority of all six countries [Music] Costa Rica has had a long history of general education and this partly accounts for its stable prosperity in Panama too most children now receive some schooling but in the other republics less than half the youth have any form of schooling at all but the situation is improving the drive for general education is gaining momentum for it is recognize that only when all the people have a basic education can Central America take its place in the modern world [Applause] in the past 10 years Central America has seen more changes than it saw in the previous 400 but there is a long road ahead too many of the people can only observe the new Society they take little part in it no one can foretell how long it will be before they all share the advantages of a modern society the future is with the young and their hope is in education each year more and more children are finding places at schools and universities but if their hopes are to be fulfilled wealth and opportunity must be far more widely shared only then will all the people of the region be able to walk with confidence into the future [Music]