Historically uncontrollably growing debt obligations of Latin American countries were the source of the risk of global crisis. Given the strategic importance of a number of Latin American countries as suppliers of key commodities to the global market, the issue of the region’s debt sustainability is of particular importance in international economic relations. The purpose of the article is to reveal the level and nature of debt risks of Latin American states based on an examination of trends of their development. The relationship between a high level of public debt and low rates of economic growth as a factor of investor distrust in the region’s debt obligations was revealed, which negatively affects the cost of raising borrowed capital. The factors of economic and political instability in Latin American countries were generalized, including the prerequisites for the formation of a new debt crisis due to the annual increase in the volume of borrowed funds, mainly to cover the chronically growing budget deficits of Latin American countries, which, against the background of large-scale systemic shocks, makes their economies increasingly vulnerable. It has been substantiated that exposure to debt risk negatively affects the effective functioning of the state apparatus of Latin American countries due to the tendencies of a multiple increase in budgetary expenditures for servicing and repaying public debt. The authors analyze practice of a number of Latin American countries to compensate for the increase in the cost of servicing debtobligations at the expense of funds provided for social security of citizens, which provokes an aggravation of conflicts in the region. The prospects of economic stabilization in the region were discussed in the context of changes in the current model of income generation, oriented to the export of raw materials.