Figures published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean show that an additional nine million people in the region are now living below the poverty line as the result of the global economic crisis.

The Commission says a total of 189 million people - 34 percent of the total population - are considered poor. This is the first time in six years that the number of poor people in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased. The ECLAC says the people who managed to improve their lives in the past few years have slid back into poverty.

Photo: Street scene in Haiti, the poorest nation in the region (Flickr/vanberto)