document: Third World countries led by Brazil , the world 's most indebted developing nation , blamed the industrialized nations in part Monday for perpetuating their poverty . Foreign Minister Roberto de Abreau Sodre of Brazil told the opening session of the 42nd General Assembly that the Third World economic picture was dimming `` due to the lack of progress in international economic relations . '' `` It is ... sad to note that we , American , Asian , African brothers , still suffer from the same horrors and the same desolation which so badly affected our forebears , '' he said , adding , `` hunger ... is endemically spreading throughout the continents . '' A similar theme sounded Monday in West Berlin , where finance ministers of 22 developed or developing countries demanded `` more forceful action '' to help Third World countries repay $ 1.2 trillion in debts . Brazil , with $ 121 billion in foreign loans , has been among the strongest Third World lobbyists for debt restructuring and writeoffs . It signed a comprehensive rescheduling agrement last week with its Western creditors . It is critical of the U.S. view that strong economic performance in developed countries would trickle down to help the Third World . Foreign Affairs Secretary Obed Y. Asamoah of Ghana appealed to creditors to write off some debts and reschedule others . He urged nations to work together to raise commodity prices to strengthen African economies . `` In a market place where one group of operators is continually selling its wares cheaply and buying those of others dearly , protection needs be given to the weak and vulnerable operators , '' he said . Ghana had an estimated foreign debt last year of $ 2.8 billion . Officials of the seven key industrialized nations in the non-communist realm _ the United States , West Germany , Japan , Canada , France , Italy and Britain _ have approved a plan to aid the world 's poorest nations , mostly in sub-Saharan Africa . But Latin American countries also would like more help . Argentina 's deputy foreign minister , Susana Ruiz Cerutti , called for a `` new strategy of global development , '' including debt forgiveness . Argentina has a $ 56 billion foreign debt . Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway said her country spends about 1.1 percent of its gross national product on loans and grants to developing countries , well above the average 0.34 percent by other developed countries . She urged other industrialized nations to increase financial aid , saying development and debt are related Third World crises . `` The industrialized countries of the North must now demonstrate that they see the poverty of the Third World as their common challenge , '' she said .
extractive_keyphrases: third world countries brazil industrialized nations foreign loans 42nd general assembly international economic relations debt restructuring foreign debt