Report for December 2000

Deutsche Latin American Cos Tst PLC
19 January 2001


                     REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER 2000


SUMMARY

Latin  American markets were weak again in December, shaken by a further sell-
off  in the US stockmarket and increased fears of a global slowdown.  The MSCI
Latin American index fell by 0.9% in sterling terms, ending the fourth quarter
down 9.4% and bringing a drop of 11.9% for the year.  The weakest major market
was  Mexico, which fell by 7.6% as worries grew over the effect of  slower  US
growth and lower oil prices on the Mexican economy.  In contrast the Brazilian
market  rose  by  7.9% in response to a 75bp cut in local interest  rates  and
improved sentiment in the local market following the IMF's rescue package  for
Argentina.

If  we  compare  Latin  America's performance with  that  of  global  Emerging
Markets,  it outperformed during all of last year.  The MSCI Emerging  Markets
Free  Index fell by 2.9% in December in sterling terms, and ended the  quarter
and the year down 14.4% and 26.4% respectively, affected by continued weakness
in  Asia.  However Latin America underperformed the developed markets  of  the
MSCI  World  index, which fell by 7.4% in Q4 and by a similar amount  for  the
full year.

Our  NAV  rose  by  1.6% in December, outperforming the benchmark  index.   We
benefited particularly from good stock selection in Brazil, where we  maintain
an overweight position.  For the calendar year our NAV fell by 12.6%, slightly
below the benchmark fall of 11.9%.  Although asset allocation was positive for
the  year  as  was  our  stock  selection in  Brazil,  we  were  hurt  by  the
underperformance of our Mexican holdings relative to the index.

Since  the  year  end  Latin  American markets  have  regained  some  positive
direction following the US Federal Reserve's surprise interest rate cut  on  3
January.  Over recent months we have seen a decisive shift in the outlook  for
the  world  economy from excessive growth to a significant slowdown.   At  the
same  time,  we are expecting interest rates to be cut further in the  US  and
other  major economies in order to avoid the threat of recession.  In a  world
of  slower  but  still positive growth, with lower energy  costs  and  falling
interest  rates,  the  outlook for Latin America is  relatively  good,  though
countries  such as such as Venezuela and Mexico will miss the boost  to  their
fiscal and trade accounts that this year's oil price windfall gave them.

BRAZIL

The  market rose by 7.9% in December, significantly outperforming the regional
index.   The most important news in Brazil during the month was a 75bp cut  in
overnight rates on 20 December to 15.75%, which was above market expectations.
The  Central Bank explained its decision by commenting that domestic inflation
was  on  a  favourable trend and that the external environment  had  improved.
Standard and Poors upgraded Brazilian sovereign debt to BB- in the first  week
of  January,  vindicating the decision to cut rates in  the  midst  of  savage
profit downgrades in the US and weak international stock markets.  Since  then
we have seen a further 50bp cut in rates to 15.25% on 17 January.  Uncertainty
over  oil  prices  means that rate cuts may now pause for a  while.   The  IMF
package  has  reduced  the  risk of contagion from  Argentina  to  Brazil  and
established a floor with regard to investor and lender expectations.

The  Central Bank has revised downwards its growth expectations for next  year
but is still talking about GDP growth of 4.5% and inflation of below 4%.  More
moderate  growth  and  a  weaker oil price should allow  the  current  account
deficit to stabilise.  The January to November figure was a deficit of 4.0% of
GDP, although this was more than covered by FDI.

The  main  corporate  news was the sale of steel company  CSN's  9%  stake  in
utility  Light for a higher than expected $362m.  The proceeds will be applied
to  reduce debt.  More asset sales should be expected, along with the  ongoing
restructuring of the cross-shareholdings between CSN and CVRD.   We  increased
our  holding in CSN in December, as we applaud its strategy of increased focus
on  its core steel business and await an extraordinary dividend payment.  This
was funded by a reduction in our holding in Gerdau, which is more exposed than
CSN  to the weak North American steel market.  Meanwhile Unibanco, pushed into
fourth  place in the private banking market by BSCH's acquisition of  Banespa,
announced  the  acquisition of a further 50% stake in consumer  finance  house
Fininvest, which has 3 million lower income clients.

MEXICO

The  Mexican market fell heavily in December, down 7.6% on weaker  oil  prices
and  fears of a slowdown in the US hitting demand for Mexican exports.   There
is  also concern over inflationary pressures.  CPI ended the year at 9.0%  and
the  target  for  2001  is 6.5%.  To combat inflation, Central  Bank  governor
Guillermo  Ortiz will keep monetary policy tight; 3 month interest  rates  are
today over 19% in nominal terms.  So far there is little sign of a slowdown in
consumption,  with  retail sales up 10.4% in October.  The Mexican  peso  fell
from  P9.4  to  P9.6  to the US dollar over the month and has  since  weakened
further  to  P9.9.   We  believe that consensus is still too  optimistic  over
Mexican  earnings  growth  and the direction of the exchange  rate  given  the
slowdown  in  US economic activity and the fall in the oil price: the  factors
which have driven the strong real appreciation of the peso over the last  four
years have reversed.

The  other main concern in the market in December was related to the  approval
of  the  2001  budget,  introduced to Congress by  the  new  Finance  Minister
Francisco Gil Diaz after the inauguration of President Fox on 1 December.   It
assumes  a 4.5% growth rate in GDP and a tighter fiscal deficit of 0.6%  based
on  an oil price of US$18/barrel. The approval of the budget was seen as a key
test  of  the new government and its ability to push through policy without  a
Congressional  majority;  in  the end approval was  secured  in  a  relatively
straightforward manner.

Brewer  Femsa  issued a profits warning, saying that its 12 month consolidated
operating  profits would grow only 9-11% due to lower than expected  sales  at
its  beer division.  Beer shipments have fallen around 18% YOY partly  due  to
adverse  weather conditions in Northern Mexico, tough comparisons in  December
1999,  and  a  major  effort to streamline its commercial  practices  by,  for
example, implementing stricter payment terms with suppliers.  We believe  that
although  the  stock has been weak short-term, this setback is  understandable
when  Femsa  is  undertaking a significant strategic change which  will  bring
longer-term benefits.

In  other  corporate news, Telmex announced that the spin-off  of  its  mobile
business  America  Movil would take place in Q1 2001,  and  Bank  of  Montreal
announced that it would sell its 10.5% stake in Grupo Financiero BBVA-Bancomer
over  the  next  two  years.   Part of this stake  will  be  acquired  by  the
controlling shareholder, BBVA of Spain.

We made no major changes to our portfolio in December.

ARGENTINA

The  Argentine  market fell 1.8% in sterling terms during  the  month.   After
weeks  of speculation, the size of the 3 year IMF-led emergency credit package
was announced to be US$39.7bn, of which $7bn corresponds to a debt swap to  be
arranged  in  early  2001.   As  we  discussed  last  month,  several  of  the
preconditions for the IMF money to be released have already been  dealt  with,
including  the  passage of the 2001 budget.  However, now that the  short-term
risk of default has been eliminated, the country's next major challenge is  to
promote growth.  Q3 GDP figures were announced to have shown no growth at all,
and we do not believe that the package will be enough to provide a substantial
boost  towards the 2.5% growth assumed in the 2001 budget.  The fiscal program
announced  in  conjunction  with  the IMF aid package  does  acknowledge  that
further  tightening  would  be  an  ineffective  strategy  under  the  current
circumstances.   However,  there  is no genuine  fiscal  activism,  simply  an
acknowledgement  that initial GDP growth assumptions were not  realistic,  and
that  as  a  result  tax collection forecasts were also overestimated.   As  a
result,  and  given  the  absence of discretion on monetary  policy,  economic
growth  continues to rely largely on external factors, such as terms of  trade
and sovereign spreads.

We made no changes to our zero weight in Argentina during the month.

CHILE

The  Chilean  market fell by 5% in December in sterling terms.   A  number  of
economic  data  releases began to show a more positive trend,  namely  falling
unemployment,  stronger retail sales figures and October GDP growth  of  5.8%.
Interest  rates have been left unchanged at the current stimulative 5%  level;
although  core  inflation of 3.3% in November was above the government's  year
end  target,  it has already fallen since October and lower oil prices  should
further relieve inflationary pressures.

The  new  tender offer and corporate governance law came into effect.   Before
the  law's  enactment,  several  large  takeovers  took  place.   Conglomerate
Quinenco, controlled by the Luksic Group, took control of Banco de Chile,  the
country's  fourth  largest by assets.  Telecom Italia offered  $905m  to  gain
control of Entel from Chilquinta, and the way was cleared for AES to take over
utility Gener.

We made no change to our Chilean holdings during the month.

ANDEAN MARKETS

There  was  little news from the Andean countries in December.   Colombia  and
Peru  underperformed, down 9.7% and 3.8% respectively in sterling terms, while
Venezuela rose by 5.4% on another wave of takeover speculation.

Inflation  is  still well under control in Colombia, where CPI is  running  at
7.98%  for the 11 months to November.  Third quarter growth was 3.1%,  led  by
exports,  with some concern over signs of a slowdown in Q4.  The main measures
of  the country's tax reform package were finally approved by Congress;  these
are  designed to raise  $1.5bn in new revenues.  GDP growth in Peru  was  only
0.2%  in October after a contraction in construction and fishing.  The banking
authorities intervened in several smaller Peruvian banks which were  suffering
from  a liquidity crisis after a withdrawal of government deposits.  Venezuela
has  announced  that  it  will  depreciate the band  governing  the  Bolivar's
exchange  rate  against the dollar by 7% next year.  Bell  South  and  a  Bell
Canada/SBC/Telmex  consortium have been awarded licences to  operate  wireless
local loop telecommunications services in various regions of Venezuela.   Food
company  Mavesa  is  in talks with several potential acquirors  including  the
privately held Polar group.

We made no changes to our portfolio in these markets over the month.



NET ASSET VALUE                                              
                                                  Fully diluted
                               31/12/00  30/11/00 31/12/00  30/11/00
                                 84.5p     83.2p    87.7p     86.7p

MID-MARKET SHARE PRICE               31/12/00   30/11/00
Ordinary Shares                       71.25p     74.25p
Warrants                              14.75p     16.75p


NAV based on total assets less current liabilities of £41.8 million (£41.3
million).

                                       Market exposure
                                     31/12/00   30/11/00
EQUITIES                                                 
                                                         
Brazil                                 48.6          42.8
                                                         
Chile                                  10.7          11.2
                                                         
Colombia                                0.4           0.5
                                                         
Mexico                                 33.9          37.1
                                                         
Venezuela                               1.3           1.1
                                                         
TOTAL PORTFOLIO                        94.9          92.7
                                                         
Net Current Assets                      5.1           7.3
                                     ------      --------
TOTAL                                 100.0         100.0
                                     ------      --------

Based on total assets of £47.9 million (£47.9 million).
                                                         
GEARING                                                  
Borrowings and Gearing at            31/12/00   30/11/00
                                      14.7%         16.1%
                                       ====          ====


LARGEST HOLDINGS (market value £42.7 million equal to 93.8% of total
portfolio)
                                                      
                                                         % of
                            Country          £000's   portfolio
Telmex                       Mexico          6,162       13.5
Banco Ita£                   Brazil          3,608        7.9
Petrobras                    Brazil          3,387        7.4
Tele Norte Leste             Brazil          3,227        7.1
Ambev                        Brazil          3,218        7.1
Unibanco                     Brazil          2,582        5.7
Brasil Telecom               Brazil          1,746        3.8
Sider Nacional               Brazil          1,671        3.7
Vale do Rio Doce             Brazil          1,586        3.5
Femsa                        Mexico          1,575        3.5
Grupo Modelo                 Mexico          1,519        3.3
Telecom de Chile             Chile           1,510        3.3
Banamex                      Mexico          1,423        3.1
Grupo Televisa               Mexico          1,242        2.7
Enersis                      Chile             977        2.1
Kimberly-Clark de Mexico     Mexico            884        1.9
Gerdau                       Brazil            848        1.9
Cemex                        Mexico            826        1.8
D & S                        Chile             805        1.8
Embratel                     Brazil            767        1.7
Soriana                      Mexico            720        1.6
Telesp Celular               Brazil            678        1.5
Wal-Mart de Mexico           Mexico            665        1.5
CANTV                        Venezuela         621        1.4
EMP Nacional                 Chile             468        1.0
                                                                
FINANCIAL CALENDAR                                              
                                                                
Year End                                        28 February 2001

For  further  information, contact Rosie Bichard at Deutsche Investment  Trust
Managers Limited on 020-7545-6000.

For additional copies, changes of address or details of our Private Investors'
Plan  and  low  cost ISA contact Mark Pope on 020-7545-0520,  e-mail  address:
[e-mail].   Further details of the Deutsche Latin  American  Companies
Trust including the latest annual, interim and monthly reports can be found on
the Deutsche Asset Management website located at www.deam-uk.com/uk/invest/

Issued by Deutsche Latin American Companies Trust PLC and approved by Deutsche
Investment  Trust  Managers  Limited, regulated by the  Investment  Management
Regulatory Organisation and manager of Deutsche Latin American Companies Trust
PLC.   Investors  should be aware that past performance is not  necessarily  a
guide to future returns, values can fall as well as rise and investors may not
get  back  the amount they invested.  Fluctuations in exchange rates may  also
affect  the  value of your investment.  Investment in Deutsche Latin  American
Companies  Trust  PLC  presents those risks associated with  emerging  markets
which may at times be illiquid and/or volatile.