increase inthemassiveavailability ofinternational capital, opening uptoour countries theroadtoindebtedness, whichweembarked uponinthehopeof recovering ourrateofeconomic andsocialdevelopment aftertherecession of1974 to1976.»l/rd A/40/P'i.10 6 (President ArditoBarletta)" Theresults, hQ'-'i'ever, werenotthoseexpected.LatinAmerica' sdebt- necessary to,certain extgntasasupplement toourownslAvings -grewatan averageof19percentayearbetween 1974and1981,untiltodayithasreached tha enormous levelofapproximately $370billion, dangerously exceeding reasonable limits. Thefinancing period, whichaveraged eightto10years,wasextremely short,sincethosefundswerebeinginvested basically inlong-term economic and socialprojects, whichwereslowtor@cover. Thedisequilibrium inthetermaof tradewassharply accentuated between 1979and1982.Thepriceofimports from industrialized countries -oilforthesecondtime-andinterest ratesrapidly increased, whilethepricesofLatinAmerican products ininternational markets wentdown.ForCentralAmerica andPanamathetermsoftradeworsened by 2Spercentbetween 1979and1982.Morethan$80billionofLatinAmerican's external debt,2Spercentofthetotal,wasduetoappropriate compensation for thesefactors. Themostsignificant problemofa~justment layinthedifference inthe expectations aftheeconomic policy. Thedeveloped countries decided toreduce inflati9n atatimewhenLatin Americ~ wasapplying aneconomic policywhich required thepersistence ofworld-wide inflat~on. Intheend,cheapmoneybecame moreexpensive andtheextentofthepresentcrisisbecameclear. ThiscrisisinLatinAmerica occursinacontext whichmakesitevenmore serious. Atpresent population growthcontinues tobehigh,withanannualaverage rateofgrowthof2.4percentinou~countries. Halfthepopulation isunder20 yearsofageandithasimportant socialneedsinhealth,nutrition andeducation. Thelabour m~rketisinvaded everyyearbymillions ofnewworkers seeking jobs. Becauseoftheruraltourbanmigration thepopulation ofthe80principal Latin American citieshasdoubled inthepast20years. Thesamephenomenon isexpectedAW/rd A/40IW.lO 7 (President ArditoBarletta) inthecomingdecades, ~uscreating extraordinary economic, socialandpolitical pressures. Although thepresentpopulation pressure hasbeguntosubside, whichis good,theimportant needsoftheexisting population willcontinue tobefeltuntil theendofthecentury. Asaresultofitsowndynamics, L~tinAmericaisataturning pointinits history. SomeLatinAmericans haveattained acceptable levelsofdevelopment; othersaremovinginthatdirection amidstmajordifficulties; onethirdarestill livinginextreme poverty andalienatiofi. Buteducation, communications, and transportation systems havecreated expectation ofabetterfutureispoasible and itisforus,theleaders, tochannel thataspiration withrealism, butalsowith faithandhope. Large-scale efforts arenecessary simplytomaintain tbissituation; inorder toimproveitwerequire economic growthof5percentayearintheregionanda considerable changeinLatinAmerican economic relations. Thedebtproblem hasexacerbated thedifference between theworldsof"the NorthandtheSouthandhasmademoredangerous thegapbetween thepoorandthe richcountries. LatinAmerica owes$370billion anddeveloping countries owemore than$850billion. Thismakesnecessary urgentchanges ofafinancial naturewhich placerelations between debtors andcreditors onamorejustandrealistic'level. Wemustrecognize thattheproblemisnotoneofdebtandourregion on11~itisa globalproblem because oftheparticipants -developing countries, developed countries andinternational banking andfinancial institutions -andbecauseit encompasses allareasoftheinternational economy. Therefore, itssolution must beglobal. Recognizing ·thisfact,inthelastthreeyearstheworldhasimplemented some solutions basedonthreefundamental premises: firstofall,that Latin~~erican countries wouldadjusttheireconomies tonewrealities andthatthiswouldleadtoN,f/rd A/40/PV.10 8 (President ArditoBarletta) aperiodofeconomic stagnationi secondly, thatthiseffortatadjustment wouldbe supported bythebanking andfinancial community withadditional resources and through arestructuring oftheexternal debtilastly, that,inaddition to recoverIngtheireconomic growthlevelsfortheirowngoodandinordertoprovide forworld-wide recov~ry, theindustrialized countries wouldkeeptheirmarkets open totheexports ofdeveloping countries toassistintherecovery oftheireconomies andtheirdebtservicing. Thissolution wasenvisaged threeyearsagoin recognition oftheglobalscopeoftheproblem. Theresults~ however, havenot beenenough. LatinAmerica hasdoneitspart,butitcanno~continue tomakeadjustments in themidstofstagnation. Weareallpartoftheproblem andweareallpart.:ofits