World Notes LATIN AMERICA

No one expected any bold initiatives to come from the meeting. But at their conference in Acapulco last week, the Presidents of eight Latin American countries called for a sweeping overhaul of the Organization of American States, the Washington-based association of 32 hemispheric nations formed in 1948. Complaining that "for several years the OAS has not carried out its function efficiently," Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid asked for "a detailed re-examination and reinforcement" of that body.

Although the leaders were short on specifics, one goal clearly was to diminish the influence of a key OAS member that was not invited to the parley: the U.S. Among other things, the so-called Group of Eight appeared to challenge Washington directly by suggesting that Cuba, which has been excluded for the past 25 years, should now be permitted to participate.

The conference also called for a ceiling on the repayment of Latin America's $400 billion foreign debt -- much of it owed to U.S. banks. For all the tough talk, however, the meeting accomplished little. The eight countries at Acapulco -- Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela -- have no means of imposing their views on the other OAS members. Still, the likelihood of an increasing regional assertiveness at odds with U.S. policies and interests brought little comfort to Washington.