In the 1970s Latin America accounted for a high, and constantly increasing, proportion of the total public foreign debt of all developing countries, reaching a share of 35% by the end of the decade. In comparison, Latin America's share of the total GDP of the developing countries is around 20%....

Latin America's foreign debts have been mounting fast in the last ten years. The following article shows that it would nevertheless be wrong to suggest that Latin America has generally run up excessive debts.