Page Two

It has been calculated that from 1970 to 1980 the number of hungry people in the world increased by about 1.5 million a year. But the first half of the 1980’s saw the pool of hungry jump by nearly 8 million a year, reaching 512 million in 1985​—this despite a commitment of the United Nations World Food Council back in 1974 to eradicate world hunger within ten years.

Now, liberation theology is touted as a solution​—getting the churches involved in the struggle to change national political and social structures so as to remove the causes of poverty.

Our issue of August 8, 1987, briefly discussed the effect of liberation theology on Third World poverty. In this issue, Awake! correspondent in Mexico further examines the question of whether liberation theology can really help the poor.