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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

            Wednesday, April 11, 2001, Vol. 2, Issue 71

                           Headlines


A R G E N T I N A

DAPSA: Files For Bankruptcy ; Seeks Strategic Partner


B R A Z I L

BANESPA: Insurance Operations To Merge With Santander
CESP: Low Bidder Turn-Out Projected For Upcoming Sale
CVRD: Continues To Battle For Caemi Stake
GUIA LOCAL: Operations To Halt
VESPER: AES Corp.'s Takeover Bid Of $300M Rejected
VESPER: Axesstel Ships 50,000 Wireless Handsets


C H I L E

TELEX-CHILE: Misses Payment; Will Propose Sale Of Chilesat


M E X I C O

CINTRA: Runway Closure Have No Effect On Sale Prices
GRUPO VITRO: Anticipates Promising Outlook For Year


P A R A G U A Y

ANTELCO: WB Holds Firm Re Commitments To Privatize


V E N E Z U E L A

MAVESA S.A.: Announces Delisting From NYSE
EDC: Sale Of Foreign Bonds Postponed For Second Time
SIVENSA: CVG Extends Offer To Aid Partner Search

  -  -  -  -  -

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A R G E N T I N A
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DAPSA: Files For Bankruptcy ; Seeks Strategic Partner
-----------------------------------------------------
Argentine refinery Destileria Argentina de Petroleo (Dapsa) filed
for bankruptcy protection from creditors on Friday as it seeks a
partner, Business News Americas reported. Dapsa is on the hunt
for a strategic partner that would aid the company's finances,  
ailing these last eight months. MBA bank has the mandate to
manage the sale of a stake in Dapsa.

"In the beginning, the idea is not to sell the whole company, but
rather only 51 percent. But we could revise this decision
depending on the negotiations. The new situation will facilitate
the operation," Dapsa general director Hector Sidiropulos said.

The recent increase in oil prices combined with financing costs
from the company's US$70-million debt were the principal reasons
Dapsa was driven to file for bankruptcy. The company has US$50
million in debt to banks, while the balance of the debt involves
money the company owes to suppliers.

The company controls a refinery with a 900 cubic meter-per-day
processing capacity and a 180,000 cubic meter storage plant in
Dock Sud. Dapsa also owns an asphalt plant and lubricant plant.



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B R A Z I L
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BANESPA: Insurance Operations To Merge With Santander
-----------------------------------------------------
Banco Santander and its newly acquired Brazilian bank Banespa are
to combine their insurance businesses, Gazeta Mercantil reported
Friday. The merger will involve Maritima Seguros, Cosesp, Sul
America, Liberty Paulista and Minas Brasil, which sell insurance
policies through Banespa, and Porto Seguro, which sells policies
through Santander's bank agencies. Santander has 1,970 bank
agencies, while Banespa has 573. Last year, Santander's insurance
subsidiary was ranked 33rd with a net operating revenue of
R$89.88 million. Santander acquired Banespa in November 2000 in
an all-cash deal worth about $1.2 billion.


CESP: Low Bidder Turn-Out Projected For Upcoming Sale
-----------------------------------------------------
Market sources predict that only three groups will submit bids
for the Sao Paulo-based electric power generating company Cesp
Parana when it goes back on the auction block on May 16, South
American Business Information reported Monday. These three
companies are Duke Energy, EDF and EDP.

CESP's starting privatization price will be R$1.739 billion for a
38.67-percent stake. CESP's debts stand at R$7.380 billion, of
which 80 percent is in US dollars.

CESP's is the last of the three companies spun off from former
CESP for privatization, generating at a capacity of 6,319MW, all
hydroelectric. Duke bought Paranapanema and AES purchased Tiete.


CVRD: Continues To Battle For Caemi Stake
-----------------------------------------
CVRD (Cia Vale do Rio Doce) refuses to give up its attempts to
acquire a 50-percent voting stake in Caemi Mineracao e Metalurgia
SA, AFX Europe reported Monday. CVRD is reportedly negotiating
with Mitsui & Co. Ltd. over the acquisition of the stake, which
would involve Mitsui exercising rights to buy the Frering
brothers' 20 percent stake in Caemi, increasing its stake to 60
percent. The results of the negotiations will be announced in the
next couple of weeks.

Earlier this year, BHP Ltd. made a bid to acquire a stake
equivalent to 20 percent capital and 60 percent voting rights in
Caemi from Guilherme and Mario Frering, the family owners of the
mine.


GUIA LOCAL: Operations To Halt
------------------------------
Brazilian entertainment guide Guia Local informed it would soon
phase out its operations, South American Business Information
said in its Monday report. It will operate for the next few days
to fulfill its business obligations. Guia Local operates in 35
cities in Brazil and currently counts on 40,000 users. It has
been on the lookout for new partners since 2000. Its foreign
partner TPI (Telefonica Publicidad e Informacion), which holds a
20-percent stake in the dotcom, did not conclude the second-round
financing expected for early December.


VESPER: AES Corp.'s Takeover Bid Of $300M Rejected
--------------------------------------------------
Controllers of the Brazilian fixed-line phone company V‚sper  
rejected a takeover bid from U.S.-based AES Corp., sources close
to the negotiations said in the Brazil Financial Wire Monday
edition. Velocom and Bell Canada International, shunned a $300-
million offer from AES, though negotiations between the firms
should continue this week.  

Meanwhile, Brasil Telecom reportedly has an interest in Vesper.
It is negotiating a partnership with VeloCom to present an offer
for Bell Canada's stake. With that acquisition, Brasil Telecom
would be able to provide cable telephone service throughout
Brazil.

Vesper's major shareholders are VeloCom (49.4 percent), Bell
Canada (34.4 percent) and Qualcomm (16.2 percent).

In February, TCR-LA reported that Vesper was facing a serious
crisis and would go through a restructuring process which would
involve the dismissal of 1,500 of its 4,000 employees.


VESPER: Axesstel Ships 50,000 Wireless Handsets
-----------------------------------------------

Axesstel (www.axesstel.com), a manufacturer of wireless local
loop (WLL) phones, modem cards and network optimization products
for the global code division multiple access (CDMA)
communications market, today announced that the company has
shipped 50,000 ACW-P1900 WLL phones to Vesper, the largest WLL
carrier in Brazil.

In January, Axesstel's WLL phone received type approval from
ANATEL, Brazil's national telecommunications governing body.
Vesper's purchase of Axesstel's ACW-P1900 WLL phones enables the
operator to provide its subscribers in a fixed environment with
advanced wireless services. As a pioneer in the development of
intelligent WLL products, Axesstel is focused on providing
economic and intelligent communication solutions to developing
countries around the globe.

"This agreement gives a significant boost to our efforts in
implementing outstanding telecommunications services throughout
South and Latin America," said Mike Kwon, president and CEO of
Axesstel. "We offer WLL and mobile operators in developing
countries the ability to offer WLL and high-speed data products,
which will soon include high-speed data and information services,
from voice to multimedia regardless of terrain factors."

Axesstel's ACW-P1900 WLL phone is a feature-rich mobile handset
designed for a fixed environment and is complete with the
following functions:

    -- Three hours of talk time and 20 hours of standby time
    -- Alternate speech and G3 fax capabilities
    -- Signal strength indicator LED
    -- Large four-line dot matrix LCD
    -- 99 speed dial memory
    -- Automatic sending
    -- Call waiting, call forwarding, call transfer, three-way
       calling
    -- RS-232C serial data port for wireless data

With headquarters in San Diego, Axesstel is a leading global
developer of wireless local loop (WLL) phones and high-speed
wireless modem card products for the global communications
market.



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C H I L E
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TELEX-CHILE: Misses Payment; Will Propose Sale Of Chilesat
--------------------------------------------------------
After telecommunications company Telex-Chile defaulted on an
$8.9-million capital installment payment last week, the decision
has been made to propose the sale of its principal asset Chilesat
to shareholders, Dow Jones reported. Additionally, it will
propose that Chilesat's financial obligations be postponed for
one year, or until its assets are sold.

Telex Chairman Jorge Awad sees no problem if the proposal is
presented at a meeting to be held on April 27, since its
financial creditors are also its majority shareholders. In June
1999, Telex's group of lenders accepted a 51-percent stake in the
company in exchange for writing off $55 million in debt.

Telex-Chile, which suspended trading from Monday through April
16, currently owes US$110 million and faces default on those
debts.



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M E X I C O
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CINTRA: Runway Closure Have No Effect On Sale Prices
----------------------------------------------------
The losses incurred by Aeromexico and Mexicana as a result of the
closure of the runways at Mexico City International Airport has
had no effect on the prices established for the major businesses
held by Cintra, Reforma/Infolatina reported Monday. According to
Roberto Galvan Gonzalez of Vanguardia Investments, the closure of
the runway is a "circumstantial situation" and therefore the
effect on established sale prices will be minimal. Juan Antonio
Fonticoba Gomez, president of the Mexican Financial Analysts
Association, agrees with Galvan, saying the closure of the runway
is something extremely temporary. It is not a recurrent event and
the market does not punish non-recurrent events very harshly, he
added.

Both carriers, Aeromexico and Mexicana, are controlled by
government-owned airline holding company Cintra, which the
Mexican bailout institution IPAB has slated to go on the auction
block this July. However, the two carriers will be sold
separately from other companies under Cintra's umbrella. IPAB
expects to reap about US$1.4 billion from the forthcoming
transaction.


GRUPO VITRO: Anticipates Promising Outlook For Year
---------------------------------------------------
The Vitro Group, which currently has debts amounting to $1.6
billion, anticipates a promising outlook for the year as it
forecasts a growth rate similar to that of the Mexican economy in
2001, according to Infolatina Monday. Vitro believes that the
peso-dollar parity effects on exports will have to be compensated
for with better productivity and efficiency in fixed-cost
applications. Vitro also sees an increase in its sales to Canada
and the United States, due to a hoped-for increase in sales to
Libbey, as well as a constant growth in their Crisa brand
products.

Vitro recently acquired a 60-percent controlling stake in
Cristalglass Vidrio Aislante SA, a maker of flat glasses for the
construction industry. The move was part of Vitro's business plan
to redirect its efforts towards growth in strategic segments such
as flat glass, household products and glassware.



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P A R A G U A Y
===============

ANTELCO: WB Holds Firm Re Commitments To Privatize
--------------------------------------------------
The World Bank is going to stand by its commitments towards the
privatization of Paraguay's state-run telco Antelco by continuing
to provide both technical and financial support, a WB source said
in a Business News Americas report released Monday. This
confirmation resulted in response to local media reports which
suggested the government is considering a proposal to hand
Antelco's control over to the telecom workers' union Sinattel.

Sinattel is currently battling with The National Reform
Secretariat (SNRE) - the government entity responsible for
organizing the privatization of state assets - over staff cuts
and the corresponding severance pay that employees are to
receive. The SNRE has proposed 1.5 monthly salaries for every
year of service in accordance with Paraguayan labor law.
Sinattel, on the other hand, is demanding three salaries per year
of service and a host of other benefits it claims were promised
from collective bargaining agreements under previous presidential
administrations.

Further complicating Antelco's privatization is a second attempt
to select an international investment bank to find a buyer for
the ailing telco. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the first auction
winner withdrew, and the search was abandoned in February.



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

MAVESA S.A.: Announces Delisting From NYSE
------------------------------------------

Mavesa, S.A. (NYSE: MAV) announced today that as a result of the
acquisition of over 98% of its outstanding shares of common
stock, including shares represented by American Depositary Shares
(ADSs), by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Primor Alimentos, C.A.,
Mavesa no longer meets the New York Stock Exchange's continued
listing criteria and standards, and that Mavesa will not oppose
the delisting of its ADSs from the NYSE. Mavesa anticipates that
the ADS program will be terminated in the near future, and that
termination will be publicly announced.


EDC: Sale Of Foreign Bonds Postponed For Second Time
----------------------------------------------------
CA Electricidad de Caracas, the Venezuelan unit of U.S.-based AES
Corp, delayed for the second time its debut sale of foreign bonds
because of turmoil on world markets, Bloomberg said Monday. EDC
was to sell the bonds earlier this month, but now plans to sell
up to 150 million euros ($135 million) in five-year bonds by the
end of May, said Claudio Bruzual, an EDC finance department
official. The first sale attempt was back in June, after AES took
control of the Venezuelan company in a $1.6 billion hostile
takeover.

Standard & Poor's gave the delayed bond a "B" rating last week,
five notches below investment grade. EDC officials held five days
of presentations in European cities that ended last week. Credit
Suisse First Boston and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein were hired
to manage the transaction.

The proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used for general
corporate purposes, including making intercompany or affiliate
loans, financing EDC's planned capital expenditures and
refinancing outstanding indebtedness.


SIVENSA: CVG Extends Offer To Aid Partner Search
------------------------------------------------
Corporacion Venezolana de Guyana (CVG) said it would help
Siderurgica Venezolana Sivensa SA find a new partner for the
Orinoco Iron briquettes project, South American Business
Information reported Monday. The project has been hit by the
recent withdrawal of Australian firm BHP. 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.




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.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
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or balance thereof are $25 each.  For subscription information,
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