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Article: Transforming Central America After Hurricane Mitch.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Foreign Policy
- Article date:
- September 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The first anniversary of Hurricane Mitch should be marked with cautious optimism that from the devastation of this century's worst hurricane will come a profound transformation of the political, social, and economic realities that favor the majority poor populations of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
To be sustainable, reconstruction in Central America must go beyond rebuilding houses, bridges, roads, and other damage estimated at more than $5 billion. It must eliminate the pre-existing evils of neglect, exclusion, and poverty that have beleaguered the region for so long.
Oxfam's analysis shows that at the moment Hurricane Mitch hit last ...