Latinnews Archive
Latin American Weekly Report - 25 March 1997
Building the case for curbs on weaponry;VENEZUELA'S PEREZ PREPARES GROUND FOR ATLANTA MEETING
In just over a month, former US President Jimmy Carter will be hosting in Atlanta an assemblage of former Latin American presidents. On the agenda will be an issue he has already been discussing in capitals of the region: the quest for an agreement to curb the acquisition of advanced weaponry.
Behind this, as we have been reporting, is Washington's concern about the manner in which Chile has been building up the strength of its armed forces. One of Carter's guests, former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez (1974-79, 1989-93), has been spelling out what the fear is.
Chile, he says, is only awaiting the departure of its longtime army commander, General Augusto Pinochet, to embark upon a programme of modernisation of its armed forces. 'If we let this happen,' he says, 'it will lead to a new arms race in Latin America,' as other countries try to match whatever Chile acquires.
'What we need,' he adds, 'is a system in Latin America which will enable us to limit expenditure on arms, while recognising that armies are needed in the region (. . .) The hypotheses of war in the region have disappeared, but the mission of the armed forces has not.' In his own view, that mission nowadays includes maintaining internal order.
But, he says, 'we do not, either, want the mission the US want to entrust to them, that of persecutors of drug traffickers.' This, he feels, could lead to situations such as 'attacking Colombia, not because it violates human rights, but because it is a centre for drug-trafficking -- which would be tantamount to accepting a new kind of aggression against our countries.'
In this regard, Perez criticised Washington's annual 'certification' round as 'a pretension to rule over other countries because (the US) has greater firepower.' The answer to this, he argues, is for the UN to take over the handling of international activities 'which the US seeks to manage as if might meant right.'
The Chileans, of course, deny any intention of triggering an arms race and protest that they have a security policy 'just like any other'. They are having a hard time convincing others, partly because their military chiefs continue to make statements easy to construe adversely.
Last Friday, for instance, the commander of the Chilean air force, General Fernando Rojas, described his own force's modernisation drive as 'an imperative (in order to structure) a potent, dissuasive and credible air force.'
EXCHANGE RATES Local currency per US$ 1
Note: This table may be divided, and additional information on a particular entry may appear on more than one screen.
| COUNTRY | CURRENCY | Year ago | Previous |
| 22.03.96 | 14.03.97 | ||
| Argentina | peso | fr 1.000 | fr 1.000 |
| Bolivia | boliviano | o 5.00 | o 5.23 |
| fr 5.01 | fr 5.24 | ||
| Brazil | real | c 0.986 | c 1.055 |
| ** b 0.990 | i 1.059 | ||
| Chile | peso | ** b 411.55 | b 412.50 |
| fr 413.00 | fr 414.00 | ||
| Colombia | peso | ** m 1,048.00 | m 1,060.35 |
| * fr 1,003.00 | fr 1,010.00 | ||
| Costa Rica | colon | ** b 200.84 | b 225.54 |
| * fr 201.24 | fr 226.00 | ||
| Dominican Rep. | peso | ** fr 13.70 | ** fr 14.09 |
| Ecuador | sucre | * fr 3,060.00 | fr 3,830.00 |
| El Salvador | colon | * o 8.79 | * o 8.79 |
| Guatemala | quetzal | * o 6.19 | * b 5.99 |
| Honduras | lempira | * o 11.09 | fr 13.00 |
| Mexico | nuevo peso | ** i 7.55 | i 7.99 |
| fr 7.60 | e 8.05 | ||
| Nicaragua | cordoba | * o 8.16 | * o 9.12 |
| oro | ** fr 8.17 | ** fr 9.13 | |
| Paraguay | guarani | * fr 2,035.00 | * fr 2,145.00 |
| Peru | nuevo sol | * b 2.37 | b 2.66 |
| Uruguay | nuevo peso | * fr 7.54 | fr 9.02 |
| Venezuela | bolivar | * o 290.00 | fr 477.50 |
| COUNTRY | Current |
| 21.03.97 | |
| Argentina | fr 1.000 |
| Bolivia | o 5.23 |
| fr 5.24 | |
| Brazil | c 1.061 |
| i 1.062 | |
| Chile | b 413.60 |
| fr 415.00 | |
| Colombia | m 1,060.00 |
| fr 1,010.00 | |
| Costa Rica | ** b 225.72 |
| fr 226.10 | |
| Dominican Rep. | ** fr 14.09 |
| Ecuador | fr 3,820.00 |
| El Salvador | * o 8.79 |
| Guatemala | * b 6.01 |
| Honduras | * fr 12.85 |
| Mexico | i 7.93 |
| e 7.98 | |
| Nicaragua | * o 9.18 |
| ** fr 9.15 | |
| Paraguay | * fr 2,150.00 |
| Peru | * b 2.64 |
| Uruguay | b 9.04 |
| Venezuela | fr 477.50 |
fr free
o official
c commercial
** Bank of America.
b banking
i interbanks
m market rate
* Efe.
e exchange houses
Barbados (dollar) 2.01 ** - Belize (dollar) 2.0 ** - Cuba (peso) 22.00 e
East Caribbean (dollar) 2.7 - Guyana (dollar) 141.10 ** - Haiti (gourde) 16.26 **
Jamaica (dollar) 34.05 ** - Panama (balboa) 1.0 - Suriname (guilder) 401.00 **
Trinidad & Tobago (dollar) 6.22 **
** Bank of America.
e exchange houses
(p) parallel
(t) tourist
Sources: No asterisk, IPS.
THE STOCKMARKETS
Price & total return indices (US$ terms), 1984 = 100
| Country | No. shares | Previous | Latest | *2*% variation since: | ||
| in index | 07.03.97 * | 14.03.97 | Prev. week | Dec. 96 | ||
| L. America | price | 323 | 759.45 | 761.20 | 0.2 | 17.3 |
| retum | 1,211.08 | 1,215.32 | 0.4 | 17.7 | ||
| Argentina | price | 34 | 1,713.21 | 1,689.79 | -1.4 | 9.1 |
| retum | 2,539.00 | 2,504.29 | -1.4 | 9.4 | ||
| Brazil | price | 86 | 414.17 | 421.66 | 1.8 | 28.1 |
| retum | 729.19 | 743.52 | 2.0 | 28.8 | ||
| Chile | price | 47 | 3,051.39 | 3,035.69 | -0.5 | 15.5 |
| retum | 6,496.39 | 6,464.61 | -0.5 | 16.0 | ||
| Colombia | price | 27 | 1,694.83 | 1,703.36 | 0.5 | 17.3 |
| retum | 3,541.44 | 3,559.77 | 0.5 | 17.8 | ||
| Mexico | price | 76 | 1,483.29 | 1,465.02 | -1.2 | 9.0 |
| retum | 2,233.14 | 2,209.99 | -1.0 | 9.2 | ||
| Peru * | price | 35 | 263.66 | 259.55 | -1.6 | 14.9 |
| retum | 281.98 | 277.60 | -1.6 | 15.1 | ||
| Venezuela | price | 18 | 446.31 | 458.83 | 2.8 | -2.2 |
| retum | 581.01 | 597.54 | 2.8 | -2.0 |
* Base 1992 = 100.
** Revised.
Source: IFC.
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