RESUMEN
PIP: In population planning in Latin America the programs are as successful as the government's support of family planning. Colombia is one of the few Latin American countries which has actively exhorted its populace to birth control. If the propensity for large families reflects a belief in the economic or social utility of children, instead of machismo, birthrates will fall with expanded social security and economic welfare programs. If birthrates are the result of machismo, new gender models stressing the positive rewards and social esteem to be gained through responsible parenthood would have to be taught to both adults and children. The position profamily planning in most Latin American countries is generally supported by the ministers, technocrats, corporations, businessmen, middle-class women, doctors, mass media, protestant congregations, and working-class women. Family planning is usually opposed by members of the armed forces, Catholic hierarchy, Catholic lay organizations, oligarchy, university students, leftist intellectuals, Marxist insurgents, Indian communities, and peasants. The portion of the total national populations encompassed by the groups composing the core combination, ideological bias, and stability group ranges from 50-60% in Argentina, Uruguay, and Venezuela to 10-20% in Central America, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay. Most groups are outside the policy-making process.^ieng