Cardinal Rodriguez to Address Global Economic Inequities at April 30 PICO Seminar

In advance of the fall visit by Pope Francis to Philadelphia, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez of Honduras is meeting with 200 PICO representatives from across the United States.  Using Pope Francis’ Joy of the Gospel, Cardinal Rodriguez will talk about the impact of capitalism on people of color across the globe.  Although the impact in the US is severe, it is even more catastrophic in El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti where PICO has established community organizations. The average Salvadoran lives on $7.50/day. A good job in a maquiladora pays $10/day. The situation in Haiti is even more dire, where some families are living on $1.50/day and pay is low: for example, some earn $4/day for work at garment factories.

The lack of opportunities, coupled with the failed War on Drugs and increasing gang violence, has caused large numbers of young people to flee their country.  The Cardinal says it this way, “Central America had a lot of troubles during the ’80s because there were ideological conflicts between different groups, especially in Guatemala and in El Salvador. But now the main concern is the problem of drug gangs. There are no opportunities for the young to find a job, and this motivates migration, illegal migration.  ….You know the answer is not migration. The answer is development. But when there is no development, what can people do? Of course we are trying to persuade our young people not to migrate, but what can they do when they have their families, and maybe they are a single mother with nothing to eat and maybe they would like to help?”