Abstract

This essay suggests that the external debt of the Latin-American countries should be considered as a form of conflict. This means that the confrontation of relative powers has to be acknowledged. As a conflict, it turns into a process in which the relations of creditors and debtors develop through the establishment of different strategies. Conventional treatment of external indebtedness takes it as a problem and searches for its solution. As such, its nature tends ultimately to be considered as a market phenomenon. Technical and administrative measure are then proposed to cope with the “debt crisis”. But in fact, negotiation becomes the main characteristic of the conflict. A situation of financial deterrence is then created to prevent rupture in international financial flows. The unequal power of the participants fixes the limits of the confron-tation as well as the incentives for cooperation.