LPAC - On Argentina Fight vs. Vulture Funds The Battle for Sovereignty in Argentina June 26th, 2014 • 2:10 PM Here are several recent items on the issue of the fight for Sovereignty in Argentina, as that nations struggles to thwart a financial attack on its nation and population. G77 & China Offer Unanimous Support to Argentina Against Vulture Fund Genocide The G-77 + China grouping offered its unanimous support to Argentina in its battle against predatory vulture funds and an insane U.S. judiciary, following a June 25 presentation to the groups representatives in New York by Argentine Finance Minister Axel Kicillof. Not only for Argentina but the entire developing World Argentinas cause is the cause of the G-77, proclaimed Bolivian UN ambassador Sacha LLorenti Solis, who is the president of the G-77 + China. The group resolved that it would send a statement to New York Federal Judge Thomas Griesa, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Obama Administration, reiterating the position enunciated at the June 14 summit in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. There, the group denounced the vulture fund predators, warning that they should not be allowed to paralyze sovereign debt restructurings of any nation. Following Kicillofs presentation, he received extended applause from the audience, after which one ambassador after another, from Ibero-American, Caribbean, Asian and other nations, stood up to offer their wholehearted support to Argentina. Noteworthy were the remarks of Brazilian ambassador Antonio Patriota, a former Foreign Minister, who denounced the rulings of the U.S. legal system as irresponsible, speculative and morally-questionable, with both economic and social impact on [Argentina], as well as a destructive and systemic impact on the international financial architecture. Brazil will be hosting the July 15 BRICS summit in Fortaleza. Indias ambassador warned that the implications of Judge Griesas and the Supreme Court rulings are gravenot only for Argentina but for the entire developing world and for the international financial system, Telam reported. Ambassadors from Peru, Chile, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Pakistan, Palestine, Jamaica and Egypt, among others, also spoke. The vultures actions are an act of genocide, said Cuban ambassador Rodolfo Reyes. All sense of ethics, all moral capacity has been lost, he added. In a press conference folowing the G-77 meeting, Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman quoted President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchners statement at the June 14 G-77 summit, in which she warned that Argentine Bishops: Economy Must Be at the Service of the Common Good; Dont Sacrifice Our People to the Foreign Debt A June 24 statement by Argentinas Catholic Conference, entitled A Reflection on the Situation Created by the Foreign Debt, expresses the grave concern of the nations bishops over the situation created by the foreign debt and its possible consequences for our country and the lives of our people, especially our most vulnerable brothers, as a result of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The Only Measure Is Man In the midst of the current crisis, they state, Pope Franciss statements from Evangeli Gaudium must be heeded: an economy based solely on financial speculation weakens relations, postpones the development of nations and compromises the stability of the international order. The bishops underscore that the economic issue is the central issue in the lives of nations, but must always be at the service of the common good and the integral growth of the human being in the framework of justice. The economic order isnt independent of the social order—both belong to the world of ethics, having man as their reference point... The bishops makes clear that the nation-state is what is at stake, and petty differences and squabbling must be put aside on behalf of a higher purpose. Society needs and expects attitudes and commitments that express the consciousness of being a Nation...The issue concerning us belongs to the life of the Argentine State. [emphasis added] The bishops statement reportedly came in response to a request by another grouping within the Church, Priests in the Option for the Poor, which last week issued its own, very strong attack on the brutal voraciousness of foreign creditors, and supported the governments decision to pay its debts without compromising the countrys growth, or the inclusion and broadening of the rights of the poorest and weakest. The group denounced local politicians and media for doing the vulture funds bidding, to the detriment of the Argentine people and its most vulnerable citizens. Russia Backs Argentina on Debt Fight Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other government officials warmly welcomed an Argentine congressional delegation to Moscow today, and expressed support for Argentinas desire to pay its debt, and come to some agreement with those holdouts who didnt participate in the 2005 and 2010 debt restructuring, and are now attempting to drive Argentina into default if it doesnt capitulate to their murderous demands. Reciprocal Suport for Development We support Argentina in its goal of paying its debt, Lavrov said, adding that Russia also backs Argentina in its process of economic growth, according to several Argentine media as well as Itar-Tass and Prensa Latina. Lavrov reiterated as well Russias support for the principles of Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands. Julian Dominguez, the president of Argentinas Chamber of Deputies who is leading the multi-party delegation, thanked Russia for its support of Argentina in the current battle with the predatory vulture funds. Our trip to the Russian Federation represents an opportunity to consolidate the support of the international community for Argentinas position in the cause of the holdouts, he said. The support Argentina has received from many governments—some obliquely he noted, such as the U.S., France, and even the IMF— in its appeal before the Supreme Court, as well as from 106 British legislators, shows that what is at stake is the power of sovereign States against financial capital, Dominguez said. The legislator thanked Russia for being a firm and unconditional ally in Argentinas claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas, and also expressed Argentine solidarity with Russia on the issue of Ukraine and Crimea. Panicked Debate, Brawl Over Consequences of Vulture Fund Assault on Argentina Intense international, U.S. establishment, and media debate on the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court and vulture-fund assault on Argentina reflect the brawl—and panic—which this situation has unleashed. While some correctly point out that the vultures onslaught is intended to extract murderous debt payments from the Argentine people, and undermine national sovereignty, no one proposes the necessary solution of bringing down the British Empire. Much emphasis, for example, is placed on the proposal to create a global mechanism to restructure sovereign debt within the confines of the existing system. Dreadful for Argentina Writing in the July-August Council on Foreign Relations Foreign Affairs magazine, under the headline How U.S. Courts Are Upending International Finance, analyst Felix Salmon polemically characterizes the Supreme Court and the rest of the U.S. federal judicial system as dangerous fundamentalists, the consequences of whose rulings on behalf of the vultures are certain to be dreadful for Argentina. These rulings, Salmon adds, will also diminish national sovereignty. Moreover, in addition to punishing the innocent—exchange bondholders have done nothing wrong—they turn the natural order of debt on its head, leaving open the questions of sovereign immunity, the future of sovereign debt restructuring and the future of New York as a financial center. If Argentina is forced to pay holdouts in full, the price will be borne by Argentines, warns Financial Times columnist Martin Wolfe in the June 24 edition, under the headline Defend Argentina from the Vultures. What is occurring is extortion backed by the U.S. judiciary, he warns. A world in which the choice for sovereigns and their creditors is between full payment and absolute non-payment would be as bad as one in which debtors had to choose between starvation and prison. A better way must be found. UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) issued a statement June 25, Argentinas Vulture Fund crisis threatens profound consequences for international financial system, warning that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and the order to financial institutions to hand over information to the vultures about Argentine assets are a threat to sovereign immunity. These court rulings resonate well beyond the borders of Argentina and the United States, it admonishes, adding that the legal precedent set could have profound consequences for the international financial system.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 02:52:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015