UN General Assembly
1983

167. Latin America has a very high external debt level, and in order to deal with it we need the assistance and understanding of industrialized countries and the international and private financial and banking institutions. There must be preferential treatment, including extending loan periods and reducing interest rates to moderate levels. There must be Latin American action at the international level to obtain a just and equitable renegotiation which, while respecting the sovereignty and the dignity of our countries, will permit the introduction of new procedures and the maintenance of the rate of public investments, in order to avoid holding up the progress essential for our peoples. 168. Guatemala considers that the recently created Latin American Economic System should be used as an instrument for giving a regional response to the international economic crisis.