Posted on 06/17/2014 5:09:22 AM PDT by Q-ManRN
Argentina's president has said that she would refuse to comply with a U.S. judge's order to pay $1.5 billion to winners of a decade-long legal battle over defaulted debt after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear her government's final appeal.
Delivering a nationally broadcast address Monday night, Cristina Fernandez expressed willingness to negotiate with the winners, but said there is simply no way that Argentina can pay the amount in cash, in full, starting just two weeks from now, which is what the U.S. courts have ordered.
Under the U.S. court orders, Argentina must hand over $907 million to the plaintiffs before June 30, or lose the ability to use the U.S. financial system to pay an equal amount to holders of other Argentine bonds.
That could mean defaulting on the vast majority of the country's performing debts, which are held by bondholders who agreed previously to provide debt relief that enabled Argentina to rebound from its economic crisis of 2001.
Bowing to the U.S. courts would force Fernandez to betray a pillar of the government that she and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, have led since he won the presidency in 2003: That Argentina must maintain its sovereignty and economic independence at any cost.
Refusing to comply could win applause from her core supporters, because paying the plaintiffs 100 percent plus interest in cash would mean sacrificing the subsidies and populist programs that enabled her to win re-election by a landslide.
Refusing to comply was "the best option" among a series of grim alternatives that Cleary, Gottlieb, U.S. law firm representing Argentina in Washington, presented to Fernandez ahead of the Supreme Court decision. Defaulting first could be Argentina's last hope for leverage in negotiations with the holdouts, the firm said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Ping
Good post!
No one knows really all that much about Argentina except what they saw in "Evita" with Madonna.
Your post succinctly tells us how that country got where it is....and uncomfortably reminds us that we're heading in that same socialist direction also.
"You'll find your life will begin the very moment you're in
Argentina
If you're romantic, senor, you will certainly adore
Argentina....."
No more, senor....
Leni
Cheers - through simple logic, I believe we are reaching people with examples like this and undoing years of socialist propaganda in minutes.
It really is a useful tool that I found on the web. My personal example is much more crude. This is a nice chart that both educates and causes leftist heads to implode. Great entertainment!
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