Contents May 2008 ANDRES VELASCO 79 Chile is dogged by drought, inflation and currency appreciation pressures. Finance minister Andrés Velasco describes how his team is responding. CODELCO 80 Chile’s most important company, Codelco, sees no reason why it should be even partially privatized. In a world of rising metals prices, the firm is a geo-strategic asset. MARK MOBIUS 85 Legendary fund manager Mark Mobius believes LatAm’s time may be coming very soon. Argentina’s equity market has the most to gain but it is also the riskiest. LARRY SUMMERS 85 Mark Mobius Lee Buchheit 111 87 The man who helped steer Mexico through the mid-1990s peso crisis is worried about the US but upbeat on LatAm. Income inequality remains a problem, however. MARTIN SCHUBERT In Their Own Words Alphabetical Order 80 101 60 111 72 88 76 58 81 96 91 96 92 99 90 75 85 51 56 94 53 71 89 102 95 98 52 87 50 84 79 José Pablo Arellano Alberto Benavides Nicholas Brady Lee Buchheit Fernando Henrique Cardoso Charles Dallara Arminio Fraga Mohamed El-Erian Eduardo Elsztain Enrique Garcia Francisco Gil Diaz Angel Gurria Hans Humes Martin Krause Claudio Loser Henrique Meirelles Mark Mobius Jose Olympio Michael Pettis Therese Rabieh William Rhodes Maria Helena Santana Martin Schubert Hans Schulz Nina Shapiro Susan Segal Roberto Setubal Larry Summers Roger Thomas Julio Torres Andres Velasco 89 Latin America is about to take a heavy thrashing, according to a founding father of EM debt trading. The crisis is unlike anything ever seen before. HANS HUMES 91 Nicaragua’s restructuring opens the gates for international investors. It also sets an example for other delinquent sovereigns. FRANCISCO GIL DIAZ 93 As finance minister, Francisco Gil Díaz oversaw Mexico’s rise to investment grade and criticized Slim’s dominance. Now leading Telefónica, he is back in the ring with an old adversary. ANGEL GURRIA 97 Latin America must raise its growth potential to allow faster catch-up in standards of living with wealthier economies in the OECD area. A comprehensive reform strategy is needed. LEE BUCHHEIT 111 Sovereign restructurings have become much less frequent and more efficient. But they have not gone away, and the ubiquitous CDS may produce some nasty surprises. Who said that? “Finance ministers who are talking about how the downturn in the US is not going to affect them are a little bit guilty of whistling past the cemetery.” See page 50 “I am very optimistic about the region . . . There is no other continent in the world quite like this one.” See page 85 2 LATINFINANCE May 2008