Dependency on the United States

I was looking around at some data on DataGov and came across some statistics that astounded me, so I decided to share. The chart below shows remittances by country as a percentage of that country's GDP. In other words, What percentage of Honduras's GDP  is money that was sent home by immigrants working abroad? Take a look at the charts below.

Remittances as percent of GDP

In 1979 the percent of GDP that remittances represented was .05%. In 2008, it's 20%. The data is similar for El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Nicaragua. As a whole, 6.53% of Latin America's GDP was generated by workers outside of their home countries.

This suggests to me that the last 30 years of neoliberal economic policy, structural adjustments, and free trade agreements have had the dual effect of a.) encouraging Latinos to emigrate to the United States, and b.) increasing Latin American dependency on the US to very unhealthy levels. It is true that during this same time these economies did improve. But what does it mean when a large chunk of that growth is due to economic activity that is physically risky, destroys the social fabric of home communites, and breaks the receiving country's laws?

But I'm no economist. Other thoughts on how to interpret this data?

Article on the MCC webiste

This article was posted on the MCC news page about Haiti on Tuesday: http://mcc.org/stories/news/compassion-more-widespread-violence-haiti

I found it to be a welcome change from the news coming from the international media, which seems to mainly be focusing on violence and looting.

Our good friends and fellow Honduras MCC team members Kathy and Virgil Troyer arrived in Haiti last Saturday. They're working as the regional disaster response coordinators for Latin America. Yesterday we were forwarded an email from them reporting that they are doing okay; busy with daily struggles to help support the MCC team there (practical things like getting food together, filtering water for many people, trying to change U.S. currency in order to buy gas and other supplies, etc). I am really in awe of the work they and other Haitian and international MCC workers are doing... here, we just keep praying for the people in Haiti. What else can you do?

Thoughts on Haiti

I can't help but imagine myself in the same situation as my MCC counterparts in Haiti. The thought that grips me is that the earthquake the struck Honduras last year was the same magnitude, yet Honduras was essentially left unharmed. Seeing the pictures of Port-au-Prince reminds me of Tegucigalpa: shacks perched precariously on hillsides, shoddy construction, flimsy infrastructure. This could have been Teguc.

Imagine. The earthquake rocked Haiti before 5 p.m. I would have still been at work on the other side of the city. Streets are blocked, traffic stopped. Night falls soon after. I can imagine myself sprinting through the dark to Flor del Campo, my mouth dry, eyes filled with concrete dust, unable to make phone contact with my pregnant wife. Four hours by bus from the MCC office. Hungry, thirsty, frightened. It's too much for my small brain to comprehend.

Yet this is the apocalyptic reality for the Haitian people living in Port-au-Prince. Women are giving birth on the streets. Children are weeping, homeless and hungry. People are contracting tropical diseases and have no comfortable place to lay down.

I have inserted links to the blogs of MCCers in Haiti on the right-hand side. Not all are updated, but I'm sure they will be soon. Consider donating to MCC's relief efforts. I can vouch for the organization: www.mcc.org.