The best explanation for why Latin American countries experienced a debt crisis in the 1980s is:
Because Latin American countries had relied on foreign loans and did not have strong domestic financial markets, they struggled to pay those loans when profits fell.
This response encapsulates the overall economic challenges faced by many Latin American countries during that time, which were heavily reliant on external borrowing and did not have robust domestic economies to support their debts, particularly when economic conditions worsened.