COMO YA DIJE, allá donde van la lían. Y es que los propios funcionarios de la ONU sospechan que los escándalos sexuales de las tropas bajo el mando de la organización-tótem no se circunscriben sólo a los casos ya conocidos en el Congo, o en Kosovo, o en Haití, sino que pueden afectar a todas y cada una de las 16 misiones que en estos momentos tienen encomendadas a lo largo y ancho del planeta:

U.N. officials fear the sex-abuse scandal among peacekeepers in Africa is far more widespread and appears to be a problem in each of the global body's 16 missions around the world.

As the world body seeks to crack down on the abuse, it could bar countries from missions if they fail to prosecute offenders, even though the U.N. is hard-pressed to find contributing nations, the officials said yesterday.

Rocked by widespread abuse of women and girls, including gang rape, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations also has found sexual exploitation cases in at least four other missions -- in Burundi, Liberia, Ivory Coast -- as well as more recently in Haiti, they added.

''We think this will look worse before it begins to look better,'' Jane Holl Lute, assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, told reporters. ''We expect that more information will come from every mission on allegations. We are prepared for that.''