Semi-proletariat

The numerical strength of the semi-proletariat is even more difficult to assess than that of other social strata; being underestimated and hardly identifiable in official statistics is itself a feature of social marginality.

In comparison to the pattern of class relations in the 1920-1950 period outlined in Figure 1, the most notable change is the rise of the agro-industrial elite to preeminence everywhere except Guatemala, and the creation of a semi-proletariat particularly in El Salvador and Nicaragua.

The semi-proletariat, living in extremely poor conditions, is the urban class with the greatest potential for unity with the proletariat.