Word: cartagena
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When ministers from eleven debt-ridden Latin American nations met last June in Cartagena, Colombia, they called on bankers to lower interest rates and relax repayment terms on the region's $350 billion in foreign borrowing. Last week a committee of 13 large lenders agreed to grant such key concessions to Mexico. In a major breakthrough in the relations between bankers and their Latin borrowers, the creditors' group decided to allow Mexico to retire nearly half of its $95 billion in debt over 14 years instead of the originally scheduled six. The committee, led by Citibank Senior Vice...
...your excellent article on the world's debt, you say that Colombian President Belisario Betancur named the IMF as one of the villains of the international drama in his address at Cartagena. Those words were not used by the President. He said that "the IMF's adjustment programs do not necessarily lead to maintenance of high employment levels and real income in its member countries, as stated in the by-laws." We also hope that the President's remarks regarding the devastating consequences of the debt bomb's explosion will not become reality. There is still...
When ministers from eleven debtor countries met last week in Cartagena, Colombia, to devise a strategy for getting concessions from the banks, most of them maintained a conciliatory tone and rejected the idea of a cartel. Said Chilean Economy Minister Modesto Collados: "Each country is different. To negotiate in a club makes no sense at all." But the depth of Latin restiveness could hardly be concealed. In his opening speech, President Betancur compared Latin America's financial burden to the crushing debt and reparations problems after World War I, which helped wreck the international economy in the 1930s...
With meetings like last week's in Cartagena, the debtor countries are attempting to elevate the crisis beyond just a financial dispute with banks. They see the debt shock as a political issue in which the governments of the developed countries should be helping out those of the Third World. As a sign of their intention to raise the level of debate, delegations last week included foreign ministers in addition to finance ministers. Latin leaders point out that largely because of interest payments, their financial resources are being drained away to countries like the U.S. at the rate...
President Belisario Betancur's welcome to the delegates at the Cartagena conference last week may have been a bit apocalyptic, but the substance struck a responsive chord in his audience. In declaring that Latin America's debt crisis is also the world's crisis, he pointed at the rich countries as the main villains of the drama. Added Betancur: "One of these villains, of course, is the International Monetary Fund." It is doubtful that anyone in the room disagreed with...