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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

            Thursday, April 5, 2001, Vol. 2, Issue 67

                           Headlines


B R A Z I L

BANESPA: Ends Year 2000 With R$2.085B Loss
CESP: To Go Back On The Auction Block May 16
CVRD: Will Not Divest Aluminum Assets
CVRD: Government Plans To Sell 32 Percent Stake By 2H01
VARIG: Executives Present Strategic Plan To Pluna SA


C O L O M B I A

CAJA AGRARIA: Liquidation Terms Now Complete
CARBOANDES: Signs P$35billion Debt Restructuring Agreement


M E X I C O

AHMSA: Seeks Final 300 Voluntary Redundancies
ASISTA.COM: Liquidation Looms Ahead
BANCRECER: Open To Bids Late This Month
CHRYSLER: Sales Increase for Third Straight Month
CINTRA: Runway Closure Causes More Losses At Leading Airlines
GRUPO SIDEK: Assets Sales Report For March, 2001
XEROX: Shares Plunge 17.5 Percent Amid Accounting Concerns


V E N E Z U E L A

SIVENSA: Increases Efforts To Keep Orinoco Iron Plant Open


     - - - - - - - - - - - - -


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B R A Z I L
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BANESPA: Ends Year 2000 With R$2.085B Loss
------------------------------------------
Banespa, the Brazilian bank which was acquired by Banco Santander
Central Hispano (BSCH), a Spanish bank, in November 2000,
reported losses of R$2.085 billion for the year 2000, O Globo
reported Monday. The result was primarily affected by a net worth
adjustment of R$2.48 billion following its privatization.
Banespa's net worth fell from R$4.4 billion to R$2.034 billion.
The services rendered income dropped from R$520.4 million to
R$464.9 million. Banespa, according to market sources, will
dismiss 10,000 employees, nearly half of its 22,000 total work
force.


CESP: To Go Back On The Auction Block May 16
--------------------------------------------
The Sao Paulo state government announced earlier Tuesday that
power utility Companhia Energ‚tica de Sao Paulo (Cesp) will go
back on the auction block on May 16 at the Sao Paulo Stock
Exchange (Bovespa) with an unchanged minimum price at R$1.74
billion. In a Brazil Financial Wire Tuesday edition, Andr‚ Franco
Montoro Filho, head of the Sao Paulo privatization committee
(PED), explained that the minimum price tag continues untouched
because the impact of a small price reduction would have been
virtually nill. According to Montoro, the recent devaluation of  
Brazilian currency, which bolstered CESP's dollar-pegged debt
load, now running at $3 billion, is not expected to impact the
transaction. Currently, 80 percent of CESP's debts are linked to
the exchange rate. The government reportedly has made a few
changes relative to premium payments. Settlement is now to be
made in a single installment ten months after the auction. The
minimum price, however, must be settled on the spot, Montoro
said.


CVRD: Will Not Divest Aluminum Assets
-------------------------------------
A study carried out in the last few months has lead the Brazilian
mining giant Cia. Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) to decide against
divesting of its aluminum assets despite its ongoing strategy to
focus only on core activities, Brazil Financial Wire reported
Tuesday. CVRD currently controls six companies in the aluminum
business: Aluvale, Alunorte, Albras, Valesul, Minera‡ao Rio do
Norte (MRN) and Minera‡ao Vera Cruz. These companies are all
under a single holding company, Aluvale, which was created in
1990. Aluvale was considered one of the world's 10 biggest
players in the segment last year with revenues of R$327 million
in 2000.


CVRD: Government Plans To Sell 32 Percent Stake By 2H01
-------------------------------------------------------
In the second half of this year, the Brazilian government may
sell its 32 percent ordinary voting shares in the iron ore
producer Cia. Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD). In fact, if market
conditions are favorable, the company could sell the shares in
blocks to investors, Reuters reported Tuesday. According to
Francisco Gros, president of the National Development Bank
(BNDES), the total sale would equate to something near $2
billion.

Plans to sell the shares, which remained in federal hands after
the 1993 CVRD privatization, have taken off after the end of a
complicated cross ownership scheme between CVRD and steel giant
Cia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) earlier this year. Government
officials expect CVRD shares to rise now that the cross-ownership
has been put to rest and the possibility of a sale is on the
horizon. However, CVRD's thinly-traded common stock slumped 4.1
percent to 46.5 reais on Tuesday, with traders saying they had
some doubts that the government would offer the shares at a price
higher than the current market price.


VARIG: Executives Present Strategic Plan To Pluna SA
----------------------------------------------------
Executives of Varig have presented a strategic plan to Uruguayan
airline Pluna SA aimed at renewing the fleet, improving services
and reducing operating costs, South American Business Information
reported Tuesday. Varig is the primary shareholder, operator and
manager of the services of the airline. The plan, which according
to Milton Rodriguez, President of Pluna Ente Autonomo, is now
under the scrutiny of Pluna's Board of Directors, sees the
incorporation of another aircraft in May 2002. A leasing system
will be utilized to bring the new aircraft aboard, the President
revealed. At the moment, Pluna SA has six planes, and it plans to
incorporate a Boeing 737 aircraft with 50 seats.



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

CAJA AGRARIA: Liquidation Terms Now Complete
--------------------------------------------
Colombian savings bank Caja Agraria is now liquidated with a
portfolio of Pesos$700bil (recovery priced at about Pesos$152bil)
and costs of Pesos$1,400bil that will be assumed by the
government, South American Business Information reported last
week. Currently, it has 9,300 pension contributors and 1,100
properties worth nearly Pesos$10bil. In addition, the savings
bank has Pesos$92bil available which could be used to begin
paying off creditors, however, controversies have been raised
over pension pay-outs of Pesos$180mil and irregular credit
concession amounting to approximately Pesos$200bil. Debts of over
Pesos$100mil have been paid off at 20 percent interest, debts of
under Pesos$10mil have been awarded interest-free status.
Liabilities in between the two benchmarks are treated on a
sliding scale running from 22 percent to 16 percent.


CARBOANDES: Signs P$35billion Debt Restructuring Agreement
-----------------------------------------------------------
According to a South American Business Information report
released last week, Carboandes of Colombia has signed a deal
involving at least 280 creditors to restructure debts amounting
to 35 billion pesos. The recent agreement is widely believed to
help save about 250 coal-mining jobs in Cesar, Colombia.
Carboandes attempted to restore its activities by raising its
output. In addition, the company is cutting costs via direct
logistics at the port of Santa Marta and the firm Carbones del
Caribe in a ten-year deal for sale of the Caribe's production.



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

AHMSA: Seeks Final 300 Voluntary Redundancies
---------------------------------------------
Mexican steelmaker AHMSA is seeking its final 300 voluntary
redundancies as part of the second and final phase of a 1998 plan
to reduce the overall workforce by 3,000, according to company
spokesperson Francisco Orduna in a BNamericas.com report released
Tuesday. In line with Mexican law, dismissed workers will receive
financial bonuses depending on length of service with the
company, Orduna said.

AHMSA, in the wake of the Asian economic crisis of 1998,
announced a plan to cut as many as 3,000 jobs, of the 17,000 it
had filled at the time. The first phase of the plan saw the
dismissal of 1,800 workers early last year. At the start of the
second and final phase implemented early this year, some 900
employees were eliminated.

Following an agreement reached between AHMSA's unions and
management, remaining workers will receive a 10-percent wage
increase this year, Orduna stressed.

AHMSA was forced to implement a downsizing strategy because of
ongoing financial problems, including a year-long suspension of
payments, and a slump in steel demand and prices.


ASISTA.COM: Liquidation Looms Ahead
-----------------------------------
Miami, Fla.-based e-business service provider Asista.com is on
the brink of bankruptcy, Reforma/Infolatina disclosed Tuesday.
Accordingly, the service provider has shut down operations and
has even hired a firm to manage bankruptcy and liquidation
proceedings. A source close to Asista.com revealed that the
depressing decision was the result of the company's failure to
secure new financing.

"Since January they'd been focused on a second round of
financing, which would have given them the critical mass they
needed to become consolidated, but it didn't happen. They only
needed a little more time, because it was a good venture," a
source close the company said.

Asista.com, a year ago, garnered $8.5 million in backing from
J.P. Morgan Capital and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Private
Capital. Its clients include several major Mexican firms, such as
Grupo Financiero Banorte, which owns the country's fifth-largest
bank.


BANCRECER: Open To Bids Late This Month
----------------------------------------
Julio Cesar Mendez, head of bank bailout and deposit insurance
agency IPAB, disclosed that invitations to bid for government-
intervened Mexican bank Bancrecer will begin late April,
Infolatina related Tuesday. Mendez expects the sale process to be
concluded by July this year. According to Mendez, terms of the
sale have been groomed carefully in order to increase the chances
of all interested parties monitoring the process to place
concrete bids for Bancrecer.

"Today, the bank is a tempting product. It's already mature. What
we want is for it not to start rotting while it's still on our
hands," Mendez said.


CHRYSLER: Sales Increase for Third Straight Month
-------------------------------------------------
Chrysler Group reported U.S. sales of 234,495 units in March, a 3
percent improvement when compared to February 2001 and 40 percent
when compared to January 2001.

"We continue to gain momentum on a month-to-month comparison,
which is crucial coming into the Spring selling season," said
Gary Dilts, Senior Vice President - Sales. "This month's launch
of the all-new Jeep(R) Liberty and the subsequent introduction of
the new Dodge Ram pickup this fall, gives us good reason to be
optimistic.

"The best barometer for momentum, however, is dealer orders,"
added Dilts, "which are steadily moving up. Orders in March were
up 83 percent when compared to January."

Inventory numbers for March 2001 continued in the right direction
as well, added Dilts. "We've made a concerted effort to balance
production with sales over the last six months," he said, "acting
more aggressively than our competition." The result: Chrysler
Group inventory has shrunk to a 53-day supply (463,647 units),
compared to 69-day supply (668,021) in March 2000.

March sales when compared to last year's all-time record March
declined by 10 percent. The March 2000 record was the second best
overall month in corporate history, largely because of an
aggressive sales incentive in Spring 2000.

Chrysler Town & Country set an all-time monthly record with sales
breaking the 16,000 mark, an increase of 32 percent compared to
last year's record of 12,259. Total minivan sales of 48,855
continued to gain strength as well, although down by 22 percent
compared to last year's record month. That was a steady
improvement over the 25,453 minivan sales mark in January 2001,
and February's total of 36,944.

Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) sales of 68,070 units established a
new record for March, rising 18 percent compared to March 2000.
This volume surpassed the previous monthly record of 61,854 set
in 1999.

Chrysler-branded truck sales also established a milestone, with a
March record of 34,038 units, up 71 percent compared to last
year's record of 19,950.

On the passenger car side, Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring
sedans and coupes introduced last year continued steady progress.
The new sedans reached a mark of 18,373, up from 17,254 last
month. Stratus and Sebring coupe combined for a sales total of
4,245 units, the best month since their launch in fall of 2000.

For the first quarter, the Chrysler brand set an all-time
quarterly sales record of 140,528, up 25 percent compared to last
year. This beat the previous all-time record of 128,432 set in
the third quarter of 2000.


CINTRA: Runway Closure Causes More Losses At Leading Airlines
-------------------------------------------------------------
Owing to the 18-day closure for repairs of one of Mexico City
International Airport's two runways, losses accumulated by
leading Mexican airlines Aeromexico and Mexicana will exceed 9
million dollars, Reforma/Infolatina related Tuesday. The
anticipated figure is equivalent to 22 percent of the first-
quarter-2000's earnings reported by government-intervened Cintra,
the airlines' holding company. Cintra's first-quarter results
will be hurt badly by the runway's closure, disclosed Alejandro
Gonzalez, of Mexico City consultants Bursametrica.

The runway was shut down for repairs March 19, and by April 1,
five days before the repairs were scheduled to be completed, 618
flights had been delayed for more than 15 minutes and 96 flights
had been cancelled.


GRUPO SIDEK: Assets Sales Report For March, 2001
------------------------------------------------

Grupo Sidek, S.A. de C.V. (OTC Bulletin Board: GPSAY GPSBY) today
announced a report regarding assets sales from March 1, 2001 to
March 31, 2001, pursuant to its obligations under the
restructuring agreements entered into with Sidek Creditor Trust:

                      ASSETS SALES REPORT
               FROM MARCH 1, 2001 TO MARCH 31, 2001
                    (Figures in US$ thousands)


Assets with
Reorganization Value
higher than USD$ 5,000     Sales Value  Reorganization Value

I. Hotels                     9,156           9,445
II. Real Estate                   0               0
III. Marinas and Golfs            0               0
IV. Other                    31,522          54,500
Subtotal                     40,678          63,945

Assets with
Reorganization Value
Less than USD$ 5,000

Subtotal (transactions)          351            N.A.

Total                         41,029            N.A


XEROX: Shares Plunge 17.5 Percent Amid Accounting Concerns
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shares of Xerox Corp. plunged 17.5 percent Tuesday after the
company said it would delay filing its year-end financial report
to allow outside auditors to conduct a more thorough review,
according to an AP Online News report. The delay triggered
concerns that inaccuracies in its accounting may be more
widespread than previously reported.

Xerox, which is facing an investigation of its finances by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, said Monday that the
independent auditing firm, KPMG, has not raised any issues so
far. Additionally, Xerox said its audit committee believes the
company's accounting policies and procedures comply with
generally accepted accounting principles. Nevertheless, investors
weren't pleased, sending shares down $1.05 to close at $4.95
Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Considering the other allegations of financial mismanagement,
it is difficult to give the company the benefit of the doubt,"
said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Gibboney Huske.

Standard & Poor's on Tuesday warned that Xerox's credit ratings
may fall to junk status unless the troubled copier maker avoids
"additional surprises" or fails to complete an audit promptly.

"Standard & Poor's remains concerned about the company's ability
to execute a meaningful turnaround," S&P said.

The company is in the midst of a turnaround plan under which it
expects to cut $1 billion in costs and sell $2-$4 billion in
assets, in an attempt to steady itself fiscally and turn a profit
for the year 2001.



=================
V E N E Z U E L A
=================

SIVENSA: Increases Efforts To Keep Orinoco Iron Plant Open
----------------------------------------------------------
Struggling to keep troubled Orinoco Iron plant from closing,
Siderurgica Venezolana Sivensa SA announced it is currently in
talks with potential investors, Bloomberg said Tuesday. The cash-
strapped Venezuelan steelmaker is counting on the plant to help
restore the company to financial health, and provide an escape
from bankruptcy. Sivensa is struggling to repay its debt amid
record low international iron prices. Last week, it announced the
need for a third investor to provide a $240 million cash
injection in Orinoco Iron. The cash vacuum was created after its
Australian partner BHP Ltd. said it would write off its half of
the $900 million hot iron briquettes plant.

"There are talks with third parties right now, but all
conversations are covered by confidentiality agreements," a
Sivensa spokeswoman said.




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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