by Naval Postgraduate School (Author)

On 11 August, 1982, the Finance Minister of Mexico, Silvia Herzog informed the International Monetary Fund that Mexico was unable to meet its principle payments to its major creditors. The economic crisis that ensued affected not just Mexico but the entire free market system. It marked a fundamental shift in development economics and altered the economic systems in all but four Latin American countries. Since the onset of the 1982 Less-Developed-Countries (LDC) debt crisis, Mexico has suffered through numerous economic crises further restraining their potential for economic growth. This thesis examines the historical background leading to the onset of the 1983 LDC debt crisis and the economic policies that the Mexican government and the international community enacted to economically recover.