A Litany of Latin American Troubles

Mexico is not alone among Latin American nations, both as a target of economic opportunity and as a hotbed of continuing social and political conflict. A sampling of other trouble spots:

GUATEMALA. A series of governments have failed to put an end to a sputtering, 32-year-old civil war that has taken an estimated 100,000 lives; new talks began last week.

EL SALVADOR. A two-year-old peace is threatened by a new outbreak of killings attributed to right-wing death squads; about two dozen leftists have been murdered since the war ended.

NICARAGUA. Despite the transition to a multiparty democracy, the Sandinistas still control security forces, and the contras are itching for a rematch.

VENEZUELA. A series of attempted military coups and civil disturbances has afflicted the country; last week 123 died in a Maracaibo prison riot pitting Guajiro Indians against other prisoners. Nine prisoners and a guard died in a Caracas prison riot.

PERU. President Alberto Fujimori is credited with knocking the wind out of the brutal Shining Path insurgency by capturing or killing its leadership, but 1,692 people were killed in guerrilla and counterinsurgency violence last year. Terrorism caused $1 billion worth of damage.

BRAZIL. The continent's largest economy is consumed by hyperinflation and a huge congressional corruption scandal that has paralyzed the government and renewed rumors of a possible military coup.

ARGENTINA. President Carlos Menem is presiding over a remarkable revival of what was a once moribund economy, but his austerity program has triggered a series of food riots in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.