MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina surprised by Germany, which voted against granting a loan at the IDB

“Not a step back”, promised Cristina Fernandez, but…

“We’re a free country with dignity and national pride; we are nobody’s employee or subordinate” challenged Argentine president Cristina Fernandez after it was revealed that the US, Spain and Germany at the Inter American Development bank (IDB) had voted against granting the country a loan.

“Still in this world, which has fallen and collapsed, in a world that was shown as ideal, they insist on punishing us because we are the bad example of a country that can build and stand up with no outside tutelage” said the Argentine president in reference to the negative vote from the three countries for a 60 million dollars from the multilateral IDB which was finally approved.

“We are an example of a country that votes for a president, who then makes the decisions, we are an example that despite the most brutal of global crises we have managed to grow more than in the last 200 years of history”, added the president during a rally for the inauguration of infrastructure works.

The Argentine president recalled that during the mandate of her late husband, Nestor Kirchner (2003/07) he sent the IMF “to hell” and targeted those economists and political leaders who preached “we were not prepared or that we were not brave enough”.

Cristina Fernandez also talked about foreign policy and underlined the economic alliance prevalent among Latinamerican countries. “Yes, you can have a foreign policy that acknowledges our Latinamerican brothers which is our real home and the strategic association here in South America”.

Before there were “some who looked north dazzled and used to say ‘why be friends with the neighbours that are poor’, it was better ‘to be friends with the rich’”.

Finally Cristina Fernandez pledged her government will not yield. “Not a step back for Argentina from any of the conquests achieved”. 

However, the block position from the three countries at the IDB board took the Argentine government by surprise, not so much the US (which is demanding Argentina complies with pending international rulings on investments favourable to US companies), or Spain (furious over the seizure of YPF  from Repsol), but rather Germany.

The challenge ahead is the World Bank where the developed countries have a greater influence and voting power than at the IDB, Allegedly Argentine diplomacy is counting with support from the BRIC members, Brazil, China, Russia and India and the developing countries. These are hard times for Argentina with no access to voluntary money markets.

The World Bank has provided and can provide: in what rests of the year, a billion dollars are earmarked for Argentina.