This booklet presents the ideas that came out of the Regional Meeting for Adult Literacy and Rural Development. The meeting took place in September 1981 at the Regional Center for Adult Education and Functional Literacy for Latin America (CREFAL) in Mexico. Basically, a discussion of adult literacy in the rural areas of Latin America is presented. Most of the methods introduced in these areas have been of urban origin, with urban purposes and perspectives. These methods do not respond to the educational needs of the adults in the rural areas. The problems of the rural population grow with the expansion and development of the urban areas. A literacy program is very much needed, but it must be a program that aims at the integration of the rural areas to the development of the whole country. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education) (OPF)