SOURCE: Long Beach Press-Telegram http://www.press-telegram.com/archive/business/0102/10/biz05.asp Mexican airlines can't make payments Associated Press MEXICO CITY =85 Mexico's Cintra S.A. =85 the holding company that = controls=20 Mexicana and AeroMexico, the nation's two largest airlines =85 said=20 Wednesday it is negotiating with creditors, and that it cannot meet=20 payments on its debt backed by receivables. Cintra said its financial situation had been aggravated by the global=20 economic slowdown and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. It said AeroMexico and Compania Mexicana de Aviacion won't be able to=20 comply with some of their liabilities related to a commercial paper=20 program backed by receivables. The companies are negotiating with the trustee representing creditors,=20= the company said. It added that to date it has met all debt obligations. Cintra gave no details on how much debt was owed and when the payment is=20= due. According to stock exchange figures, Cintra's total debt as of the=20= third quarter was $1.44 billion. -- David Mueller / SAN kawika42@mac.com http://www.quanterium.com