Enron Hasn't Made Many Friends In The Third World

Gutsy. Visionary. Relentless. Such epithets have served Enron Corp. well in recent years on Wall Street, where its success in pioneering the gas and electricity trading business has made it one of America's most admired corporations. Until the California power crisis drew attention to the difficulties of deregulation, Enron seemed to have few obstacles to double-digit growth.

But mention Enron in India, and you're likely to trigger a tirade over the high costs of power from a controversial plant that opened in 1999. In Argentina, officials still complain about Enron's heavy-handed attempts to push a big gas pipeline project a decade ago. And in Mozambique, officials assert that the U.S. government threatened to cut off aid unless the African nation gave the energy giant rights to a promising natural gas field. "It was nasty," recalls former Mozambique Natural Resources Minister John Kachamila of his dealings with Enron.