Word: braziller
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Despite last week's meeting, the Latin American countries do not form a united and cohesive bloc. While the two heaviest debtors, Brazil ($93.1 billion) and Mexico ($89.8 billion), have taken drastic measures to rein in their runaway economies, Argentina ($45.3 billion) is still a maverick. Two weeks ago, Argentine President Raúl Alfonsín rejected an IMF austerity demand for cuts in wages and government spending, which was designed to curb his country's 568% inflation rate. Alfonsín sent the IMF a plan that promised workers 6% to 8% wage increases...
...restrictions would be against his own free-market principles, but a vote against steel and copper quotas could hurt at the polls. New import quotas could also cause problems abroad. Chile and Canada, the two largest U.S. suppliers of copper, lobbied strongly against cutbacks. Steel producers like Mexico and Brazil have already announced voluntary restraints on their exports to the U.S., and further reductions would aggravate their debt woes...
During their deliberations, the summit leaders were forced to give close attention to the international debt issue. All seven heads of government had received a letter from seven major debtor countries (Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Brazil) expressing "anxiety," in the words of a British official, and the hope that the debt discussion be given "the right priority." The summit finally came up with a plan that a senior U.S. official said would "reward" debtors who are making "successful efforts to improve their position." The plan includes the notion of extending and improving the terms of debt repayment...
...major creditors, led by New York's Citibank, announced that they were willing to renegotiate the interest rates and the timetable for payments. The banks remained reluctant, however, to grant similar concessions to other large Latin debtors because they have made less headway with their economic difficulties. Brazil's annual inflation rate is 210%, and Argentina's is an astounding...
Finance and foreign ministers from several Latin countries, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, are planning to get together next week in Cartagena, Colombia, to discuss their debt problems. But Citibank Chairman Walter Wriston dismissed fears that the Latin nations would join forces to withhold payments. Said he: "They would be cutting off their source of funds. They would be cutting their own throats by setting up a cartel...