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       T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                   L A T I N   A M E R I C A

            Tuesday, March 13, 2001, Vol. 2, Issue 50

                           Headlines



B O L I V I A

ATLAS MINERALS: Subsidiary Shuts Down Andacaba Mining Operation


B R A Z I L

COPENE: $925 Million Sale Set For Last Week Of March
LIGHT: Undergoes Restructuring
MAE: Aneel To Intervene, Manage R$678 Million Debt


C O L O M B I A

DANARANJO: Gets P$2.471 Billion Capital Injection From Banks


M E X I C O

AHMSA: Turning To Web-based Sales, Service For Expansion
BANCO DEL ATLANTICO: Lehman Says Bital-IPAB Deal Imminent
CINTRA: 90 Percent Of Workforce Gone By March 15
ICA: Signs Five New Contracts Totalling $249 Million
LUZ & FUERZA: Electricity Theft Costs P$1 Billion In Losses


     - - - - - - - - - -


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B O L I V I A
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ATLAS MINERALS: Subsidiary Shuts Down Andacaba Mining Operation
---------------------------------------------------------------
Atlas Minerals Inc. (formerly Atlas Corporation) (OTC: ATMR)
announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Arisur Inc., is
being forced to shut down its Andacaba mine, located near Potosi,
Bolivia, as a result of failure of negotiations with its primary
lender, Corporacion Andina de Fomento ("CAF"), to reschedule its
debt payments.

The Company has been in intermittent negotiations with CAF since
May 1999 when it originally defaulted on a scheduled loan
payment. By letter dated July 28, 1999 and revised on October 26,
1999, CAF agreed to restructure the remaining balance of the debt
under the condition that the Company, by June 30, 2000,
demonstrate that it has a minimum of four years of proven
reserves at a production rate of 400 tonnes per day at the
Andacaba mine. In April 2000, Latin American Investment Group
("LIAG"), an independent Latin American engineering firm,
confirmed the required amount of reserves and recommended
additional investment in the operation in order to assure a
sustainable production rate of 400 tonnes per day. Despite this
report, and subsequent recent confirmation by LIAG and Atlas that
the operation is progressing towards the 400 tonne per day level,
CAF has been unwilling to negotiate a rescheduling of the loan
and is initiating foreclosure proceedings against the Company's
subsidiary, Arisur Inc.

The Company has been left with no choice but to cease operations
effective immediately, which will consequently result in the loss
of over 250 jobs in Potosi and the surrounding area, as well as
causing serious damage to any residual value of the mine assets.

The Company is evaluating its future alternatives.



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B R A Z I L
===========

COPENE: $925 Million Sale Set For Last Week Of March
----------------------------------------------------
The Brazilian central bank has scheduled the sale of a majority
stake in the country's largest basic petrochemicals maker,
Petroquimica do Nordeste SA (Copene), for the week of March 26,
Bloomberg reported Friday. The Central Bank and the owners of
Copene (Mariani, Odebrecht and Conepar) have reportedly agreed to
set the company's minimum price at US$925 million. Sources
involved in negotiations say the minimum price is lower than the
price negotiated by Copene's owners of between US$970 million and
US$1 billion. The agreement on pricing was reached by the sellers
believing that the amount is low enough to renew Dow Chemical's
interest in the sale of Copene.

The first attempted Copene auction failed in December after the
owners of the majority stake, a holding company called Norquisa,
said the bids were too low. The failed December sale drew
interest from heavy hitters including U.S. giant Dow Chemical,
Argentina's Perez Companc, as well as the local consortium of
Grupo Ultra and Brazil's Copesul.


LIGHT: Undergoes Restructuring
------------------------------
Restructuring at electric power distribution company Light is the
result of a stockholders' agreement between AES of the U.S. and
EDF (Electricite de France), South American Business Information
reported Friday. Until late 2001 first half, EDF will take over
control of the company. Mr. Paulo Roberto Ribeiro Pinto is
expected to take over Mr. Edesio Quental's post as financial
officer of Light in mid-March.


MAE: Aneel To Intervene, Manage R$678 Million Debt
--------------------------------------------------
The government agency Aneel (Agencia Nacional de Energia
Eletrica) is set to intervene in MAE (Mercado Atacadista de
Energia), South American Business Information reported Friday.
The action is aimed at regulating the liquidation of a deal made
in 2000 due to the company's R$678-million debt with Eletrobras.
However, specialists in the sector believe Aneel can not
intervene in the accounting of this debt.



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C O L O M B I A
===============

DANARANJO: Gets P$2.471 Billion Capital Injection From Banks
------------------------------------------------------------
Danaranjo, the Colombian office products manufacturer currently
operating under a debt restructuring program, announced receiving
a 2.471 billion pesos capital injection from commercial banks and
the IFI (Instituto de Fomento Industrial). According to a South
American Business Information report Saturday, the funds, which
came from the banks of Bogota, Tequendama, Union Colombiano, de
Credito, Sudameris and Multifinanciera and the IFI, will help
Danaranjo meet short term demands. The company will now be able
to pay leasing contracts of over 2 billion pesos with Colpatria,
Ganadero and Andileasing. Danaranjo's production plant and
company offices in Bogota are part of the collateral in case of
default.



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M E X I C O
===========

AHMSA: Turning To Web-based Sales, Service For Expansion
--------------------------------------------------------
Mexico's largest steelmaker, former state-owned enterprise Altos
Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA), announced plans to expand its online
sales service for company inventory, Reforma/Infolatina said
Friday. The company's decision was inspired by the success of the
web-based service, which was launched in the middle of January.
According to Ahmsa, the service, which it plans to expand during
the next several weeks, will include new features.

The company announced recently that it would not increase
production volume this year from year-2000 levels due to a slump
in international steel prices. While production volumes will
remain unchanged from last year, the company does not expect to
accumulate excess inventories during the current year.


BANCO DEL ATLANTICO: Lehman Says Bital-IPAB Deal Imminent
---------------------------------------------------------
Robert Lacoursiere, Lehman Brothers analyst, expects Grupo
Financiero Bital to reach an agreement with Mexican bank bailout
agency IPAB over its stalled acquisition of government-intervened
Banco del Atlantico by the end of March. In a Reforma/Infolatina
report released Friday, Lacoursiere said, as a result of a
meeting with National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV)
head Jonathon Davis, Bital and IPAB are near to striking a final
deal on Atlantico. Bital's acquisition of Atlantico has dragged
on for two years now because of the political controversy
surrounding the taxpayer-funded rescue of Mexico's banks and the
creation of IPAB in 1998. Meanwhile, Atlantico's books have
deteriorated significantly, fueling Bital's expectation to pay
less for the bank.


CINTRA: 90 Percent Of Workforce Gone By March 15
------------------------------------------------
Only five of the 58 employees of government-owned Mexican airline
holding company Cintra will remain after March 15 to coordinate
with the company's majority shareholder, bank bailout agency
IPAB, during Cintra's forthcoming breakup and sale. The drastic
action, according to a Reforma/Infolatina report Friday, spurred
heavy criticisms from several observers. According sources close
to the dealings, interim chief executive Luis Gutierrez Ruvalcaba
will be forced to rely heavily on the management resources of
leading carriers Aeromexico and Mexicana, which Cintra owns.

Conventional wisdom says Aeromexico will be sold as a package
with regional airline Aerolitoral while Mexicana likely will be
sold as a unit with smaller carriers Aerocaribe and Aerocozumel.


ICA: Signs Five New Contracts Totalling $249 Million
----------------------------------------------------
Executives at construction company Ingenieros Civiles Asociados
(ICA) said the company has signed five new contracts worth a
combined $249 million. Gonzalez Fernandez of Banco Santander
Central Hispano (BSCH) made the announcement Friday in a
Reforma/Infolatina report. According to Fernandez, these new
contracts include a $140 million power generation center in the
Dominican Republic; a $70 million generation project in the
southern Mexican state of Campeche; two telecommunications
buildings, in Mexico City and Monterrey, for Global Crossing Ltd;
and a regional office building, for the Banco de Mexico. All of
the contracts except the $8.9 million Banco de Mexico project
were won by joint venture with ICA Fluor Daniel, Fernandez added.


LUZ & FUERZA: Electricity Theft Costs P$1 Billion In Losses
-----------------------------------------------------------
Alfonso Caso, a Luz & Fuerza del Centro (L&FC) executive, told
Infolatina in a report Tuesday that the state-owned power utility
loses approximately 1 billion pesos annually due to theft of
electricity. Power thieves include residential and corporate
customers, frequently with the assistance of corrupt L&FC
employees. According to Caso, the company is now implementing new
strategies intended to improve service quality and eliminate
corruption amongst workers. He announced that the union leaders
have pledged zero tollerance of corruption amongst L&FC employees
and that, if a worker is discovered committing an illicit act,
they will be punished. Previous reports indicate L&FC has been in
the red since 1994 despite federal subsidies aimed at buoying the
company. Federal transfers injected to cover operating costs have
already totaled 4.4 billion pesos.




S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter Latin American is a daily newsletter
co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ,
and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC. John D. Resnick, Edem
Psamathe P. Alfeche and Janice Mendoza, Editors.

Copyright 2001.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2746.

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