BRAZIL SETS UP SPECIAL DEBT COMMISSION
Brazil has set up a special debt
commission, headed by Finance Minister Dilson Funaro, to be
responsible for renegotiating Brazil's 109 billion dollar
foreign debt, officials said.
    The principal negotiator on the commission, created by
President Jose Sarney, will be former foreign minister Ramiro
Saraiva Guerreiro.
    Officials said Guerreiro would be joined on the commission
by eight senior officials, including a representative of the
National Security Council.
    The creation of the commission is intended to underscore
the Brazilian government's contention that the debt issue is
essentially political and that a political solution must be
found to the problem.
    On February 20 Brazil suspended interest payments on its 68
billion dlr foreign bank debt to try to force the issue.
    Creditor banks, however, have signalled that they are
equally determined to resist Brazil's demands for debt relief.
    Yesterday Funaro travelled to the U.S. for fresh debt
negotiations with creditors deeply angered by Brasilia's
suspension of interest payments.
 Reuter
