Latin America: Debt Fatigue and Asian Loans

Argentine President Nestor Kirchner said Feb. 28 that his country's creditors had accepted a mere 25 cents on the dollar for Argentina's defaulted debt. When Kirchner met with presidents Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva of Brazil and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in Montevideo, Uruguay, on March 2, they discussed a "unification of positions" with regard to multilateral creditor organizations. Given Argentina's apparently successful emergence from its debt crisis, their talk has considerable implications both within and beyond the region — such as the potential for leaving Latin America reliant on Asian loans.