The aim of this work is to study the role of external debt in generating the economic crisis in Latin America in the 80s. Special attention is paid to the dependence of the economic development of the countries of the region and the impact of external debt on them from the peculiarities of the structure of the national economy and the financial market. The article considers the processes of accumulation of external and internal debt in the countries of the region and their servicing, as well as ways of financial and economic stabilization in conditions of high external debt.