Computer boom down South. (Florida exporters benefit from increased demand for personal...

As Latin economies converted to market systems, demand for PCs mushroomed. Many Florida exporters are plugged in.

Computer exporters in Miami get a chuckle when they see the official statistics on Florida's computer equipment exports to Latin America. As the table shows, Paraguay, a predominantly agricultural nation of fewer than 5 million people, appears to be undergoing a technology boom - a 577% increase in computer shipments between 1989 and 1992 and almost 28% more in dollar volume than computer exports to fast-growing and much-larger Chile.

What gives?