OCR Text |
Show 16 zations and by the Indians themselves; the organization of seminars and courses in the headquarters of the Training Centers and in collaboration with the National Indianist Institutes; studies and investigation in the territories where it is planned to establish Training Centers or development programs. There is a great amount of work to be done. In many of the countries of our continents the Indian populations make up a high percentage of the total. This is particularly true in the case of Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico. In many of these countries the national Indianist organizations are working effectively as in the case of the National Indianist Institute of Mexico through its 12 coordinating centers. Nevertheless, we must recognize that, 25 years after the Patzcuaro Congress, the action has not been as broad nor as intensive as could be desired. On many occasions, government support has been lacking and therefore economic resources have been extremely limited. Personnel properly trained to work on Indianist projects, continues to be very scarce and the result has been that, despite many good intentions, there are still millions of Indians who have received no tangible benefit from Inter-American Indianist action. Today the urgent need for ending the underdevelopment of our peoples has been recognized. Above all it is necessary to do away with barriers and achieve an effective motivation in those who are to promote their own development. Among the highest barriers are all aspects of the so-called agrarian problem, the so often repeated subject of illiteracy, the scarcity of new labor sources, the lack of adequate sanitary attention, a more equitable distribution of wealth and in the |