Delegates from across Latin Americaand the Caribbean opened a five-day meeting here today aimed at
mapping a regional strategy for this year's meeting of the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
    Representatives from 26 nations are participating in the
talks here, which well-placed sources said would focus on Latin
America's staggering foreign debt and efforts to pull the
region out of its worst economic nosedive in more than half a
century.
    UNCTAD's annual meeting is scheduled for July in Geneva. In
april developing countries belonging to the so-called group of
77 will attempt to hammer out a common position for the UNCTAD
conference at a preparatory session in Havana, Cuba.
 Reuter
