ABSTRACT
In the 1970s, private banks replaced official institutions as the primary creditors of many richer, developing nations; private renegotiations became necessary with ever greater frequency. Despite the less developed countries (LDC) private debt explosion of the 1970s, the lack of repayment of the principal of Eurocurrency loans and the shifting composition of debt adumbrates major shifts in debt renegotiations. Brazil and Mexico the largest LDC borrowers, accounting for 66 percent of all outstanding loans by banks to non-oil-exporting developing countries. Mexico is always the first developing nation in which newly international US banks become involved. However, commercial banks apparently have separated their experiences in Zaire, Indonesia, and Eastern Europe from their Latin American lending. Without borrowers' cooperation, industrial nations' economic stability and numerous large banks' survival are endangered. This reciprocal hostage situation suggests important potential implications of banks' actions for international political relations among developed and developing nations.
