A modern anti-poverty strategy for Guyana: Lessons from Brazil and Mexico

Dec 11, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

Public concerns about persistent poverty, rising prices, and uneven access to services remain important, even as Guyana continues to undergo the fastest economic transformation in its history. The Government has been investing heavily in housing, infrastructure, health, education, and hinterland development, but more can be done to ensure that every household feels the benefit of national progress.

Two of the most successful anti-poverty programmes of the last generation, Brazil’s Bolsa Familia and Mexico’s Oportunidades, offer lessons that Guyana can adapt to our own reality. Both countries used targeted, data-driven programmes that provided support to poor families on the condition that children stayed in school and received regular health checks. These approaches did more than offer temporary relief; they built long-term human capital and broke intergenerational poverty.

A Guyanese version should not be a copy of either system but a multi-pronged model blending the strengths of both. Brazil showed the power of simple, predictable income support for the poorest households. Mexico demonstrated how strong educational and health requirements can improve school attendance, reduce child illness, and raise future earnings. Together, they created a balanced approach that supported families today while preparing children for better futures.

Such a programme here would work through three core steps. First, the creation of a transparent national registry that identifies vulnerable families based on income, living conditions, and geographic needs. Second, modest monthly support to the poorest households to ease pressure from food prices, transportation, and living costs. Third, clear commitments tied to education, vaccinations, health visits, and nutrition, ensuring that every child benefits from the country’s development trajectory.

This would not replace the Government’s ongoing efforts, rather, it would strengthen them. The country’s large investments in new schools, hospitals, teacher training, and hinterland connectivity create the infrastructure needed for such a system to function effectively. A modernised programme would simply ensure that these services reach the people who need them most, and that no child is left behind because of where they live or what their family earns.

With the resources now available to Guyana, we have an opportunity that few developing countries ever receive: the chance to pair rapid economic growth with deliberate, structured social uplift. A combined Brazil-Mexico approach, carefully adapted to Guyana’s realities, would help reduce poverty, protect families from shocks, and ensure that our national prosperity becomes shared prosperity.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Walter H. Persaud

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A modern anti-poverty strategy for Guyana: Lessons from Brazil and Mexico

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