FOUNDATION MONIES DESTINED FOR LATIN AMERICAN POOR

VATICAN CITY, JUL 17, 2003 (VIS) - The annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Populorum Progressio Foundation took place in Guadalajara, Mexico from July 8 to 12 to discuss the financing of projects in favor of indigenous and mestizo peoples and poor Afroamerican farmers from Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a communique published today by the Foundation.

Populorum Progessio was instituted by Pope John Paul II on February 22, 1992 within the sphere of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" on the occasion of the fifth centenary of the start of the evangelization of Latin America. Its purpose was to pursue the intentions of Pope Paul VI who had wished to set up a fund for this purpose.

The Foundation provides monies for 259 projects in 21 countries. These undertakings include the production sector (agricultural instruments, the production and selling of goods), the health field, professional formation, the realization of community centers, scholastic education, building farm homes amd integral human formation.

Countries with the largest number of projects include Colombia (35), Peru (34), Brazil (25), Mexico (23), and Ecuador (22). The remaining countries include: Bolivia and Haiti (14 each), Guatemala (13), Nicaragua (12), Chile and El Salvador (11), Paraguay (8), Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic (7), Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay and Venezuela (3), the Antilles and Honduras (2).

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