RESUMO
PIP: When Fidel Castro assumed power in 1959 in Cuba the demographic expansion of that country amounted to 2% annually. In the 1970s it decreased to 1.1% annually thereby helping to alleviate social problems and to establish the new government. In the 1980s the rate will probably decrease even further, reaching 0.7%. In Fidel Castro's opinion, no developing country can sustain a population growth rate of 2% or 3% annually, since it will never then be able to escape poverty and suffering. It is estimated that if the population growth in Brazil had been 1% instead of 2.5% in the 1970s, there would not have been the current 40% lack of primary school vacancies for 7-year-old children. Instead, there would have been 200,000 extra vacancies without the necessity of investing in new teachers and constructing new schools. Voluntary family planning is recommended as the best way to reduce population explosion in the lower income and educational classes. The percentage rate 1% was recommended since it is the current figure for countries such as Canada and the U.S. (0.7%), but with living standards 6.5 times higher. The conclusion that Brazil needs a much greater population in order to occupy its vast empty spaces is considered faulty because the Amazonic areas are difficult to settle; until now settlement there has occurred in a disorderly fashion resulting in ecological disaster for the region. In terms of national security, it is mentioned that Germany, in 1939, had a population half the size of Brazil's today and still was almost able to conquer the world.^ieng