Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

by David Zenian BUENOS AIRES - Argentina has yet to pull out of an economic crisis that began in 1981, but after suffering two rounds of hyperinflation in the past three years, it has achieved a precarious stability thanks to the pragmatic policies of President Carlos Menem.

by David Zenian BUENOS AIRES: The Armenian community of Argentina has maintained its identity with flying colors thanks to its stubborn devotion to the church, school and the family structure. The battle has not been easy, and the war goes on. "Most of those who came in the mid-1920's were poor. They were the so called lucky to be alive Genocide survivors who had taken refuge in Aleppo from places like Ainteb, Kilis, Ourfa and Hajin," says Kevork Sarafian, who came to Buenos Aires in 1927.

by David Zenian SAO PAULO: When the Armenian Catholic church decided to close its small elementary school in Sao Paulo this year, few people winked and fewer noticed its demise from community life. Letters to Sao Paulo's 600 Armenian Catholic families failed to save the nine year old modern school which had already lost most of its Armenian students in recent years.

by David Zenian MONTEVIDEO: Armenian communities in Latin America take pride in their schools, sports facilities and cultural centers, but are envious of fellow Armenians in Montevideo for their broadcasting success. If the schools are there to educate and enhance Armenianism in the youth, the radio stations play an essential role in maintaining the sense of community in a land where assimilation has taken its toll.

by David Zenian SAO PAULO - When he took office in March of 1990 at the age of forty, President Fernando Collor de Mello seemed like the ideal person to turn around Brazil's chaotic economy, suffering from the same malaise of hyperinflation, debt, bureaucratic waste and deficit spending that afflicted much of Latin America in the 1980s. Instead, economists say, he has been a disappointment. His ideas were fine: deregulate the economy, cut government spending, privatize the pervasive, money-losing state companies, and curb inflation.