Argentine Presidency Issues Full Page Ad Asking, Who Wants To Drive Argentina Into Default?
The Unhived Mind
Argentine Presidency Issues Full Page Ad Asking, Who Wants To Drive Argentina Into Default?
June 23, 2014 • 10:05AM
http://larouchepac.com/node/31116
The Presidency of the Nation of the Argentine Republic ran a prominent, full-page color ad in the New York Times and Washington Post on Sunday, under the headline “Argentina Wants to Continue Paying its Debts But They Won’t Let it.”
The backdrop to the ad is the British Empire’s intention of annihilating Argentina, because of its assertion of the primacy of national sovereignty and the general welfare, over the interests of speculators and killers. On June 20, National Flag Day, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner gave a speech to the nation in which she said that her government is willing to negotiate with representatives of the vulture funds, but not on any terms–rather with “fair negotiating conditions in accordance with the Argentine Constitution, our national laws and the contracts that we have signed as a nation with 92.4% of our creditors … to be able to reach an agreement that would be beneficial and fair to 100% of our creditors.”
“Don’t expect me to do any old thing; yes, to do what I should, to do my duty; I am always, always prepared to do my duty, but never to gamble with my Fatherland.”
In her speech, she repeated a point she has made many times: Europe is devastated; “many countries are permanently restructuring their debt, because they can’t pay when [the debt] comes due, so then another restructuring, more austerity, more unemployment and more misery.” She again recalled the statements her late husband Nestor Kirchner had made before the UN General Assembly in 2003: “Let us grow because the dead don’t pay their debts.”
Federal Judge Thomas Griesa threatened on June 18 that should Argentina attempt to change the jurisdiction of its debt restructuring to Buenos Aires, out of New York, as Finance Minister Kicillof announced on June 17, it would be violating “the rulings of my court,” and would face severe consequences. It’s clear that Argentina continues to weigh its options at this point, and the full-page ad, excerpts of which appear below, spells out its position very clearly, for which it is garnering support throughout Ibero-America and beyond.
Excerpts from Sunday’s ad:
Argentina wants to continue paying its debts, just as it has been doing since 2005, but this is now hindered by Judge Thomas Griesa’s ruling and by the US Supreme Court’s refusal to take on the case.
The default of the Argentine Republic in 2001 was the biggest one in the world’s financial history, largely exceeding 100 billion US dollars. Decades of overindebtedness and low growth left the country with a debt amounting to over 160% of its GDP, an unemployment rate close to 25% and over 50% of its population in poverty. Since 2003, several measures were implemented that were aimed at normalizing the country’s international financial relations. The fundamental principle of all negotiations conducted with creditors was always the same: in order to be able to pay, Argentina must first grow, so as to generate the resources that will enable it to honour its commitments. Growth to enable payments has been the hallmark of all debt negotiations conducted by Argentina since 2003. Under this approach, for over a decade, Argentina’s economy has been growing, bringing down unemployment and continuing to reduce its debt, to such an extent that foreign currency-denominated public debt owed to the private sector currently does not exceed 8% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
Ibero-America Rallies In Defense Of Argentina Against The Vultures
Several Ibero-American regional organizations, as well as individual national Congresses and government leaders, are expressing solidarity with Argentina in opposition to the predatory vulture funds, whose British imperial masters are out to annihilate Argentina. It hasn’t escaped the attention of some that any nation on the continent could come under similar attack from these same killers. As Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica noted, “we could be next.”