B L A C K

BLACK P1JW355009-5-A00900-1---XA P1JW355009-5-A00900-1---XA

P1JW355009-5-A00900-1---XA
*****
AZ,EE,FL,MW,NE,NY,PN,RM,SA,SC,S
2 2 6 4 3 6 2
12/21/2001
P 1 J W 3 5 5 0 0 9 - 5 - A 0 0 9 0 0 - 1 - - - X A
President de la Ra Resigns,
Unable to Quell Violence
Fueled by Finance Crisis
White House, IMFSay No to Argentina Aid
By Michelle Wallin
And Pamela Druckerman
Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal
BUENOS AIRESArgentine President
Fernando de la Ra resigned amid deadly
rioting and the collapse of his embattled
government, in the grim denouement of a
four-year-long struggle with recession,
crushing debt and political paralysis.
Buenos Aires now appears increasingly
likely to abandon its one-to-one currency
peg with the U.S. dollar and default on
much of its $130 billion debt, economists
said. Meantime, well-heeled lenders like
the U.S. and the International Monetary
Fund said they were in no mood to help, as
Latin Americas third-largest economy
now faces a pitched battle not only on the
streets, but also with angry foreign bond-
holders looking at stiff losses.
The damage, however, appears to be
limited largely to Argentines and those
bondholders, many of whom have acted to
cap their exposure to Argentina in recent
months. While Latin American currencies,
for instance, slipped on the news of Mr. de
la Ras departure,
they did so only mod-
estly. The currency of
neighboring Brazil, in
fact, is near a six-
month high. The U.S.
dollar rose on world
markets, as many in-
vestors tend to view
the currency as a ha-
ven in times of eco-
nomic turmoil.
U.S. Treasury Sec-
retary Paul ONeill
brushed aside any sug-
gestion of economic
contagion from Argentina, which he de-
scribed as insolvent, saying events in
the nation of 37 million had been building
toward crisis for months and markets had
largely discounted the expected implosion.
One foreign venue where the Argentine
crisis is a bit more palpable: the floor of
the Madrid Stock Exchange. Marquee
Spanish firms have plowed more than $30
billion into Argentina over the past de-
cade. The local share prices of Spains five
largest companiesbanks Banco Bilbao
Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Banco
Santander Central Hispano SA, electricity
producer Endesa SA, oil company Repsol-
YPF SA and telephone operator Telefonica
SAhave fallen precipitously this year be-
cause of Argentinas woes.
Power in Buenos Aires now appears
likely to shift to the opposition Peronist
party, whose standard-bearer, the flamboy-
ant former president Carlos Menem, deep-
ened the budget profligacy that put Argen-
tina on economic tenterhooks in the first
place.
Just who will succeed Mr. de la Ra
isnt immediately clear. But one question
the Peronists may ask themselves as they
prepare to retake power: Do they really
want it? The incoming president faces a
passel of unpleasant economic policy op-
tions, from currency devaluation to debt
default, not to mention a punishing reces-
sion that has put nearly one out of every
five Argentines out of work.
Dollarizationthe outright adoption of
the greenbackhas been proposed. Tiny
Ecuador most recently has given it a go,
and it has helped tame inflation and bring
down sky-high interest rates there. By con-
trast, Argentina has allowed its pesos to
circulate alongside dollars, leaving doubts
in the minds of investors as to whether the
one-to-one peg would always hold.
Yet adopting the dollar and junking the
peso printing presses wouldnt solve Ar-
gentinas most immediate problem: the
need to stoke confidence in lenders and its
own people. They had been emptying their
bank accounts for weeks, in favor of stuff-
ing their mattresses, before the govern-
ment imposed harsh bank withdrawal lim-
its at the beginning of the month, now
somewhat eased.
Besides, say analysts, the government
might not have enough U.S. currency in its
vaults to dollarize right now. When Ecua-
dor dollarized, barges loaded with U.S.
coins had to steam south to meet the de-
mand.
Currency devaluation, meanwhile, is
unlikely to offer the kind of impetus to
exports that it did for Mexico in 1995.
Thats because Argentina sits far removed
from big consumers in Europe and North
America and is notoriously poor at selling
its goods abroad. The country exports a
feeble 8% of its total economic output.
Only a few countries, like Rwanda, Bu-
rundi and Haiti, export less as a percent-
age of gross domestic product.
If Argentina runs too low on the hard-
currency reserves, such as dollars and
gold, that are the backbone of its peg with
the dollar, it might have no choice but to
let the peso float freely against other cur-
rencies. That would almost certainly
cause a sharp devaluation in the peso. Al-
lowing the peso to devalue against the dol-
lar, as Brazil did in 1999, would be espe-
cially painful for ordinary Argentines.
Most people earn money in pesos but
carry mortgages and car and business
loans in dollars, so their debts would in-
stantly become more expensive to repay
after a devaluation.
The governments own debt crisis
would be compounded by a devaluation,
since almost all of its $95 billion in bonds
are denominated in U.S. or European cur-
rencies. Even short of a devaluation, bond-
holders say, the chances of a full-fledged
default on debt have risen exponentially,
since the government will find it politi-
cally difficult to pay interest to its foreign
investors while Argentines are rioting for
food.
In the streets, angry citizens de-
manded change. Mounted police wielding
truncheons charged protestersordinary
Argentines beleaguered by the economys
meltdown and by controls on their bank
accounts imposed just as Christmas ap-
proaches. At least 22
people were killed in
two days of violence
and more than 2,000
arrested. Water can-
nons and tear gas dis-
persed thousands of
protesters in the leafy
capital.
Similar protests
over the past few days
appear to be what fi-
nally pushed the head-
strong economy minis-
ter, Domingo Cavallo,
to resign late Wednes-
day. (It was also on Wednesday that Mr. de
la Ra declared a 30-day state of emer-
gency that suspends a broad range of con-
stitutional guarantees, including freedom
of travel, the press and labor organiza-
tion.) The 55-year-old, Harvard-trained
economist took the reins of Argentinas
economy in March, coasting on his reputa-
tion for having created the dollar-peso peg
in 1991 during a previous stint as economy
minister, saving a grateful people from the
ravages of hyperinflation. Suddenly, the
government could no longer print pesos at
will, and inflation was limited.
But his newer prescriptions, including
a blend of tax increases and cuts in public-
sector wages, failed to reverse the coun-
trys deep slump. The popular frustration
came to a head after he put a partial
freeze on withdrawals of deposits this
month to stop a run on the banks and then
declared that the government would make
additional budget cuts to gain access to
loans from the IMF, which had required
fiscal discipline as a condition of its lend-
ing.
With Mr. Cavallo gone, economists say
his currency peg isnt likely to last, either.
While Cavallo was in power, we knew
that he was dead set against devaluation
and would default only if he simply ran out
of money, said Lawrence Krohn, chief
Latin American economist at ING Bar-
ings. Now all of that has changed.
Argentina recently lightened its debt
load by pressuring local investors to turn
in their bonds for new debt with lower
interest rates and a longer payment pe-
riod. It has been planning a separate swap
for bonds held abroad. Even before the
social upheaval intensified this week, Ar-
gentine officials had been hinting that the
foreigners would probably get worse
terms that the locals.
I would not be surprised at all to see
a cessation of payments, said Hans Hume,
a fund manager at Van Eck Investments,
which holds Argentine bonds. I anticipate
that this is going to be a much nastier and
drawn-out process than most bondholders
expect.
Fitch Ratings Inc. said it now expects a
broad and disorderly default on all of
Argentinas bonds, in which creditors will
have to accept at least a 50% reduction in
the principal amount of the bonds. The
default would be triggered if Argentina
misses any of the $600 million in debt pay-
ments still due this month. The biggest
hurdle is whether investors will buy $451
million in short-term treasury bills set for
next week. Governments sell such debt to
fund their needs.
A bond restructuring would affect a
wide swath of foreign investors, ranging
from U.S. hedge funds and insurance com-
panies to a Dutch metalworkers group. Of
the total, roughly $18 billion is owned by
U.S. investors, estimates economist Chris-
tian Stracke of Commerzbank Securities
Inc.
Among the firms that say they have
small positions in Argentine debt are
MetLife Inc., John Hancock Financial Ser-
vices Inc. and the Teachers Insurance and
Annuity Association College Retirement
Equities Fund, better known as TIAA-
CREF.
About $23 billion of Argentinas bonds
are denominated in European currencies
Please Turn to Page A13, Column 1
Investment of $375 Million,
Accord on Ad Revenue
End Months of Bickering
Castro Would Allow U.S. Oil Exploration
Cuban President Fidel Castro said he
would allow oil exploration by U.S. compa-
nies off Cubas coasteven though the
longstanding U.S. trade embargo against
Cuba would appear to forbid it. We would
not deprive Ameri-
cans of the possibility
of investing in these
resources, he said on
Cuban television
while discussing the
countrys purchases
of U.S. food. He said
Cuba was paying $40
million, including
transportation costs,
for grains, chicken
and other products
that will be delivered
by March. Congress
last year passed a law
permitting food sales to Cuba. Representa-
tives of U.S. business and some U.S. offi-
cials hope the shipments will lead to in-
creased trade with Cuba, but many anti-
Castro Cuban exiles oppose the sales. The
food will replace reserves depleted after
Hurricane Michelle hit Cuba last month;
the U.S. offered humanitarian aid after
the storm, but Havana said it preferred to
make commercial purchases of food.
WTO to Hold 2003 Meeting in Mexico
The World Trade Organizations direc-
tor general, Mike Moore, said its member
countries agreed to hold the next minis-
ters meeting in Mexico in mid-2003. The
decision was made at a Geneva meeting of
the WTOs General Council, the first since
a ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar,
last month that agreed to launch a new
round of global trade-liberalization talks.
Mexico was the only country that offered
to host the 2003 meeting, which will be
chaired by its economy minister, Ernesto
Derbez. He played a key role at Doha in
shaping an accord on poor nations access
to drugs for AIDS and other diseases.
BRIEFLY:
% Brazils third-quarter gross domestic
product rose a revised 0.5% from a year
earlier, up from an earlier 0.34% estimate,
the IBGE statistics institute said. It also
said the revision put year-to-date growth
at 2.25%, up from 2.17% estimated earlier.
% Anglo-Dutch consumer-products com-
pany Unilever said it sold its Unipath wom-
ens-health diagnostic business to Inv-
erness Medical Innovations, a U.S. health-
care products company, for 103 million
($149 million).
% Canadian consumer prices in November
fell 0.9% from the month beforethe sharp-
est drop in 42 yearsand were up 0.7%
from a year earlier, Statistics Canada
said. Analysts said the data were a clear
sign of an economy in decline. Statistics
Canada said the decline was mainly the
result of weaker prices for gasoline, natu-
ral gas and traveler accommodation.
By Jacob M. Schlesinger
And Damian Milverton
Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTONBush administration
and International Monetary Fund officials
said the political chaos in Argentina
wouldnt sway them from their hard-line
position against additional aid to the Latin
American nation, and professed confi-
dence that the turmoil wouldnt trigger
broader global financial shocks.
I dont think the violence is a function
of whether the IMF did more or lessthe
violence is a function of the peoples frustra-
tion with their government, Treasury Sec-
retary Paul ONeill said in an interview,
referring to the angry Argentine street
clashes that have left at least 20 dead.
The notion that the rioting, which cata-
lyzed the resignation of President Fernando
de la Ra yesterday, might justify more aid
from the U.S. or from the IMF, in which the
U.S. is the largest shareholder, suggests
somehowthat we should accept the responsi-
bility for how they run their country, which
is inappropriate to me, Mr. ONeill said.
Mr. ONeill dismissed the danger of
any broader fallout throughout the region,
or to emerging markets in general.
Theyve been approaching this time for a
year or longer, he
said, adding: I think
markets have seen
this coming and
theyve discounted it.
Separately, IMF
spokesman Thomas
Dawson told reporters
that the fund wasnt
rushing to free up de-
layed loans, noting
that while board mem-
bers could be con-
tacted during an emer-
gency, there was no
meeting scheduled to
discuss Argentina and the board is now on
its traditional holiday recess.
Mr. Dawson said discussions with Ar-
gentina over a stalled $22 billion loan pack-
age wouldnt begin until a new cabinet
was picked, and made clear that the
money wouldnt be released until Buenos
Aires adopted economic policies the IMF
considered acceptable. Our aim has been
to help the Argentines developon their
owna program that can be sustained
both economically and politically, and that
remains our goal, he said.
When Mr. ONeill took office this year, he
vowed to shift away from the Clinton admin-
istrations tendency to actively manage
emerging-market crises. He pledged to leave
more decisions to the IMF and to take a
more skeptical view of financial aid. After
agreeing to extend more loans to Argentina
in August, the Treasury secretary has taken
a harder line against the country through
the fall as financial conditions have wors-
ened, making it a test case for his views.
In a striking contrast with his predeces-
sors, he said he wasnt even talking to Argen-
tine officials this week and referred most
questions about the situation to the IMF. Re-
minded that Mr. Clintons Treasury would
have been in more constant contact, Mr.
ONeill replied: They also would have been
in there giving them moneyendlessly.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
took a similar position, stressing that the
IMF was in charge of the matter. The
president considers Argentina a valued
ally and friend, Mr. Fleischer said. The
president would like to see Argentina work-
ing with the IMF to be able to work
through this situation in ways that lead to
sustainable economic growth.
LOS ANGELESEnding months of acri-
monious negotiations, Mexicos Grupo Tele-
visa SA closed a deal to increase its stake in
U.S. Spanish-language TV group Univision
Communications Inc. and boost its share of
ad revenue, while extending the U.S. broad-
casters exclusive access to Televisas ros-
ter of soap operas and other shows.
Under the agreement, Televisa will
make an equity investment of $375 mil-
lion in Univision and also sell the U.S.
group its record label, Fonovisa. In re-
turn, Televisa will receive a combination
of shares and warrants that will increase
its equity stake in Univision to 15% from
6%. In addition, Televisa Chairman
Emilio Azcarraga Jean will join Univi-
sions board as vice chairman.
Univision, which already has the right
to run Televisas shows on its flagship
broadcast and cable networks, will also
get exclusive rights to run the Mexican
groups content on its new broadcast sys-
tem, Telefutura, which is slated for launch
next month. As part of the deal, the U.S.
broadcaster will increase the fee it pays to
Televisa to 12% of its advertising revenue,
up from 9% currently. The 9%widely con-
sidered a bargain price for the string of hit
programming supplied by Televisawas
established nine years ago as part of a
landmark deal struck by Univision Chair-
man Jerry Perenchio.
Univision shares fell after the an-
nouncement to trade at 4 p.m. on the New
York Exchange at $37.92, down $1.98, as
investors interpreted the accord as an indi-
cation that Univision is not a likely take-
over play. Univisions shares had soared
to nearly $40, from about $20 in Septem-
ber, spurred by takeover speculation fol-
lowing the purchase of Univisions smaller
rival, Telemundo, by General Electric
Co.s NBC in October. By locking in with
Televisa, analysts said, Univision execu-
tives are clearly pursuing their own
growth strategyand not merely counting
on an acquisition bid.
Despite the falloff in the stock price,
analysts said that the Televisa agreement
is strategically sound.
Well have more than enough program-
ming for our three networks, said Ray
Rodriguez, who oversees that part of Univi-
sion. Telefutura will immediately be in a
strong competitive position vis a vis Tele-
mundo. Alfonso de Angoitia, chief finan-
cial officer at the Mexican broadcaster,
added that this deal...ends the uncer-
tainty about our U.S. strategy.
The agreement brings to a halt months
of bickering between the two companies.
Televisa, hit by slower advertising at
home and looking to further tap the fast-
growing U.S. Hispanic market, com-
plained that under its current 25-year
agreement, ending in 2017, it provided
roughly 40% of Univisions program-
mingincluding its most popular
showsfor only the 9% of Univisions ad-
vertising revenue. And it demanded a big-
ger equity stake and higher licensing fee.
But Univision rebuffed Televisa, agreeing
instead to buy thousands of hours of pro-
gramming from alternative sources in Co-
lombia and Venezuela to feed Telefutura.
But in the end, Televisa and Univision
found that they needed each other. Tied by
its contract with Univision, Televisa could
not negotiate a deal with a third party in
the U.S. Meanwhile, concern over height-
ened competition after NBC bought Tele-
mundo further whetted Univisions desire
to secure Televisas blockbuster soaps for
its new network.
The agreement also includes a 50-50
joint venture between Univision and Tele-
visa to introduce Televisas cable and satel-
lite channels into the U.S. market. Univi-
sion also closed a deal with Venezuelas
Venevision, which will increase its equity
stake in the U.S. broadcaster to 19% from
18% and grant Univision access to its
shows for Telefutura as well.
Belgiums Interbrew has drawn up a
short list of bidders for its British brand
Carling. People familiar with the situation
said Interbrew has received offers from
Heineken of the Netherlands, Coors Brew-
ing of the U.S., British private-equity firm
Apax Partners and a consortium made up
of Cinven and CVC Capital Partners
Group, also of the United Kingdom. Ana-
lysts expect Carling to fetch around 1.2
billion ($1.74 billion). Heineken, Apax and
Interbrew all declined to comment. Coors,
Cinven and CVC couldnt be reached to
comment. The winning bid would need to
be approved by Britains Office of Fair
Trading. The watchdog ordered Interbrew
to sell some assets in September because
of competition concerns following its 2.3
billion purchase of Bass Brewers last year.
A successful bid by Heineken would
give the Dutch brewer a 24% market share
in the U.K. and make it No. 2 behind Brit-
ish brewer Scottish & Newcastle, which
has 28% of the market.
Marconi Agrees to Sell Unit to Danaher
British telecommunications-equipment
maker Marconi appears set to hit its debt-
reduction target following a deal to sell its
U.S. fuel-dispensing business for $325 mil-
lion and a buyback of its own bonds with a
face value of about $220 million. The com-
pany agreed to sell its Marconi Commerce
Systems unit, based in Greensboro, N.C.,
to Danaher Corp., a maker of industrial
tools and controls equipment based in
Washington, D.C. Marconi declined to say
how much it paid for its bonds, which have
been trading recently at between 40% and
50% of their face value, but analysts esti-
mate the buyback cost at about 75 million
($109 million). The two deals appear to
reduce Marconis net debt to about 3.2
billion, from about 3.5 billion currently.
Peugeot, Toyota Select Czech Plant Site
Frances PSA Peugeot Citroen and Ja-
pans Toyota Motor said they selected the
Czech Republic as the site for a joint-ven-
ture plant to produce small cars for the
European market. The auto makers said
the plant will be located in Kolin, about 35
miles east of Prague. Construction is ex-
pected to begin in January, with produc-
tion to start in 2005. The companies said
they expect to invest about 1.5 billion eu-
ros ($1.35 billion) in the project. The plant
will have a production capacity of 300,000
cars a year. The selection of the Czech site
was a big setback for Poland, which had
proposed a location in the countrys south.
Eurotunnels Chief Executive to Depart
Eurotunnel Groups chief executive,
Philippe Lazare, will depart Dec. 31 amid
differences over how the debt-burdened
channel-tunnel operator should be man-
aged, the Anglo-French company said. He
will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer
Richard Shirrefs, who has helped cut Euro-
tunnels debt from 10 billion ($14.5 bil-
lion) to about 5 billion. Mr. Lazare
couldnt be reached to comment. The
change comes as one of Eurotunnels big-
gest clients, the Eurostar train service,
faces strikes in one of its busiest periods.
Lufthansa Orders 15 Airbus Jumbo Jets
Airbus said German flag carrier
Lufthansa, as expected, signed a final con-
tract for the purchase of 15 of the Euro-
pean aircraft makers planned A380 jumbo
jets. Lufthansa is expected to take deliv-
ery of the first of its 550-seat, double-deck
jetliners in 2007, Airbus said. Lufthansas
board had approved the multibillion-dollar
order Dec. 6. The Lufthansa order brings
Airbuss firm orders for the A380 to 85.
RWE to Buy Britains Highland Energy
German utility conglomerate RWE said
it agreed to acquire British natural-gas
producer Highland Energy Holdings, in a
move that will give RWE access to gas
reserves in the North Sea. Financial terms
of the deal werent disclosed. The acquisi-
tion, which requires regulatory clearance,
continues RWEs expansion in the Euro-
pean natural-gas market, following the
companys $3.7 billion acquisition this
week of Czech gas-import monopoly Trans-
gas and stakes in eight gas distributors.
BRIEFLY:
% Britains third-quarter gross domestic
product expanded 0.5% from the previous
quarter and rose 2.2% from a year before,
the governments statistics office said.
Britains economy is firmly at the top of
the G-7 growth scale, said Arjun Mittal,
an economist with American Express.
% The European Commission said it began
legal proceedings against Germany,
Greece and Portugal for failing to open
their telecom markets to competition.
Bank of Japan Downgrades Its Outlook
The Bank of Japan, as expected, down-
graded its economic assessment for the
seventh straight month, saying Japans
economy is broadly worsening and that
severe adjustments in the economy will
continue. Meanwhile, Japans cabinet ap-
proved an initial
draft budget for the
fiscal year beginning
April 1 that totals
81.23 trillion yen
($635 billion). The pro-
posed government
spending is 1.7% less
than the initial bud-
get for the current fis-
cal year, before the
two recently com-
piled supplementary
budgets. The Bank of Japans latest down-
grade comes amid the countrys worst
slump in the postwar period. Japans
economy is worsening broadly, as private
consumption is weakening in addition to a
decline in exports and business invest-
ment, it said. Separately, Japans trade
surplus in November narrowed to 498.3 bil-
lion yen, from 595.6 billion yen a year ear-
lier. Exports fell 9.1% to 3.892 trillion yen,
while imports fell 8% to 3.393 trillion yen.
IBRA Aims to Raise $3.5 Billion in 2002
The chairman of the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency, or IBRA, said the
agency aims to raise 35.3 trillion rupiah
($3.5 billion) from asset sales and loan
repayments for Indonesias cash-strapped
government in 2002. He said this years
result of 27.98 trillion rupiah outpaced the
agencys target of 27 trillion rupiah. Most
of the cash collected this year came from
sales of assets debtors pledged to IBRA.
China, Japan Resolve Trade Dispute
China and Japan reached agreement
Friday on the resolution of a nine-month
old trade dispute over surging imports of
Chinese farm products, a spokesman for
Chinas Foreign Trade Ministry said in
Beijing. He said Japan will not impose
curbs on the three Chinese agricultural
goods, and China will scrap punitive tar-
iffs on Japanese cars and other products.
BRIEFLY:
% Japans Softbank, its Yahoo Japan unit
and Sony Computer Entertainment said
they have agreed to jointly provide broad-
band-network services by using Sonys
PlayStation 2 video-game consoles. The
companies said they plan to begin offering
the services in the spring.
% China has pledged support for a pro-
posed free-trade agreement with Hong
Kong, Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung
Chee Hwa said Wednesday on a visit to
Beijing, after meeting with President
Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji.
W
ORLD WATC
H
COMP I LED BY DAVI D I . OYAMA
Vital Statistics of a Flailing Economy
*Indicates perceived risk Sources: Thomson Financial/Datastream; J.P. Morgan; Fitch Ratings; CIA
Argentine GDP
Year-to-year change at an
annual rate
Unemployment Rate Public Debt
In billions
By type of creditor, in billions
of pesos, as of June 30
Bond Yields Public-Sector Debt, Quick Facts
EMBI+ spread over Treasurys
in sovereign debt*, in
percentage points
Current Population:
37,384,816
(July 2001 est.)
Per Capita Income:
$12,900 (2000 est.)
Chief Exports:
Edible oils, fuels and
energy, cereals, feed,
motor vehicles
10%
5
0
5
10
$160
120
80
40
0
1995 1995 1989 96 96 91 93 95 97 99 97 98 99 0001 97 98 99 0001
2001
20%
18
16
14
12
60
45
30
15
0
Reported semiannually
Bonds and
commercial paper
94.6
Multilateral
24.8
Bilateral
(includes Paris Club)
4.7
Commercial
banks
2.8
Other
1.5
Officials Remain Convinced
That Countrys Turmoil
Wont Spur Wider Shock
Paul ONeill
Domingo Cavallo
Argentinas Beleaguered Government Collapses
Fernando de la Ra
By Wall Street Journal staff reporters
Eduardo Porter in Los Angeles and
David Luhnow in Mexico City.
Licensed to Kill: In Afghanistan, a Marine
sniper waits for the perfect moment Page A1.
Fighting Terror: U.S. freezes the assets of
two Pakistani groups Page A3.
Europe: Investment groups jockey to bid for
Telecom Austria Page A13.
Asia: As other nations engage North Korea,
should U.S. do the same? Page A13.
Mexicos Televisa Agrees to Increase Its Stake in Univision
THE AMERICAS
ASIA/PACIFIC
Japanese Yen
Per U.S. Dollar
Oct. 01 Nov. Dec.
inverted scale
120
122
124
126
128
130
in yen
Fidel Castro
EUROPE
Interbrew Compiles
Bidding Short List
For Its Carling Unit
s 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
i i i i i
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2001 A9