In this article the authors demonstrate the seriousness
of illiteracy in Mexico, a problem deeply rooted in the
mechanisms that reproduce Mexican’s society structu-
res. Beyond the illiteracy indexes the authors confirm
the importance of this setback that affects mainly the
elders and among them women and native Mexicans.
It is stated that government strategies to eradicate illi-
teracy have not had the expected success given the
resources invested and the current technological ad-
vances. The evolution of this problem is analyzed from
different perspectives leading to the conclusion that illi-
teracy amounts to one of the greatest debts of Mexican
society and that its resolution will be difficult to attain
if the social context of illiterates is not changed, if their
socioeconomic conditions are not modified and if the
efforts to teach them to read and write are not comple-
mented by measures to cut down the conditions of po-
verty and inequality in which they live.