BOGOTA, September 8, 2008 (AFP) - More than two young people in three in Latin America feel they are discriminated against, many because they come from poor backgrounds or lack education, a study by two regional groups says.

Sixty-nine percent of the teens and 20-somethings questioned in the survey by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Iberoamerican Youth Organization said they were subjected to bias.

The study, published Sunday in Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper, said youths from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Bolivia felt especially discriminated against.

In Bolivia, a country with an indigenous majority, it was the color of the skin that was the root of perceived prejudice.

Ecuadoran youths felt lacking education mitigated their chances, while Chileans ticked poverty as their problem.

In Colombia, the respondents singled out the lack of 'palancas' -- contacts who give them inside help to find work or deal with administrative hurdles -- as their primary handicap.