The Specter of Death in a Guatemalan Highland Community

Abstract

T HE current rate of growth of the world's population is a phenomenon that manifests itself in every undertaking of mankind. This is abundantly evident in most of the developing areas, and particularly in Latin America, which is presently experiencing a rate of growth far in excess of that of any major region of the world.' In 1850 Latin America possessed only 3 percent of the world's population, in 1950 it contained 6.4 percent, and, according to recent estimates, at the turn of the century it will contain more than 10 percent. Within Latin America, however, the rates of population growth diverge considerably from the norm. Temperate South America and Cuba, in recording a relatively lower rate, reflect a growth more nearly comparable with that of the United States and certain nations of Northwestern Europe. At the opposite extreme are the land-bridge nations of the Americas, Panama to and including Mexico, which are experiencing the most rapid population growth in the world. In most of this region birth rates are uniformly high and are sufficiently in excess of death rates to result in an exceedingly high rate of natural increase. Guatemala, however, is unique in the region in that it has one of the highest recorded birth rates in the world but also a death rate which exceeds that of its neighboring states.2 The present tendency for