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UK confirms it claims repayment of £ 45m loaned to Argentine Junta that invaded the Falklands

Wednesday, April 11th 2012 - 00:35 UTC
Full article 49 comments

The UK is seeking repayment of a loan granted to Argentina in 1979 which was invested in military procurement some of which was used during the Falkland Islands conflict. Read full article

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  • Marcos Alejandro

    Argentinian Government should sue British Government for £ 45 Billions for supporting a group of criminals dictators that tortured and murdered tens of thousands of people.
    They do the same thing all over the world, the latest masterpiece was Libya, in the morning they sell weapons to their dictator in the afternoon the bombed the hell out of that country.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 12:55 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Searinox

    when the UK wish, argentina is ready to go to the ICJ...everyone knows that dictatorship debts are illegitimates...
    David Cameron government is more stupid than usual, whats going on in the UK to act this way?

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 12:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Stefan

    It's funny how many Argentinians refer to the Junta some illegitimate, foreign-funded entity that they all hated... but when it came to the war, everyone was in the streets celebrating Galtieri's actions... hypocrisy?

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 01:05 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Searinox

    3# argentina has 40 millions of inhabitants...a square supported the war...so you are saying 40 millions of inhabitants or i dont know 10 millions enter in a square? cuac
    Argentina has 30 thousand of people that doesnt appears, dead people, childrens kidnaped when they born, they destroy our economy...
    and you call us hypocrites?

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 01:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • brit abroad

    Waste of time trying to reclaim it, whether it is legitimate or not. RG's dont like to pay back loans at the best of times !!

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 01:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Anti-Fascist

    3 Stefan

    They don't all hate the junta of 82, there are quite a few I know would love them to return but the only difference between CFK and the junta is CFK is more corrupt. She may not be disposing of people in the sea yet but there have been some strange deaths in Argentina lately.

    But essentially yes, most Argentines were foaming at the mouth over the Juntas invasion.

    Their idiotic uneducated and brainwashed population still believe they hit Invincible, some are even claiming to have sunk it and it was replaced by Illustrious. The same people claim Belgrano was a hospital ship, all English are “gay”, we are a population of “N******s”, the “Nazi's were good”, “all Jews should be killed along with English” and the Falkland Islanders have no right to be on “their islands”, that we “illegally took”, ”THe English are the most evil people on Earth and we should give independence to Scotland and Wales and give Northern Ireland to the Republic. I tried explaining that we live in a democracy but they wouldn't hear anything of it, the Queen rules us all - apparently, she also rules Washington, Canada and Australia. No amount of reasoning with these people helped them understand, they just rejected it all. Yes these are the people I've conversed with on the internet. This is the same mentality as the Nazi's and while CFK may be a leftist, she still maintains that Fascist like character of General Peron, a mob like mentality and she used nationalism to generate her support, an appeal to the base tribal instinct.

    Argentina is a retarded nation, its people occupy land they took by force of arms, there has been no reconsiliation with the American Indians they massacred, re-enactment groups and the Argentine Army celebrate the Conquest of the Desert and the genocide of the nations native peoples. They talk about colonialism, while claiming tens of thousands of miles of the South Atlantic and Antarctica that they have no right to. They are the most racist people

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 01:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Stefan

    @4 - Yet, Searinox, the majority of the Argentinian population STILL agree with Galtieri's cause, according the polls. They still have the false belief that the Falkland Islands were somehow stolen from them. Do Germans support ANY aspect of Hitler's Third Reich today? Do they cry for the annexation of Austria, or perhaps the absorption of Czech lands?
    No... They don't. I am perfectly open to accept people's pleas to take no responsibility for governments they had in the past (especially dictatorships), but it is hard to believe when (like in the early 80s), Argentina is STILL banging the same drum that the aforementioned general did when he illegally invaded the Falkland Islands.

    @6 - I honestly don't know how a constitutional monarchy is so hard to understand.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 02:40 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Troneas

    Sorry David. You'll have to call the IMF for money mate. Digging old dodgy debts from the bottom of the chest won't do.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 03:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Stefan

    @8 - I hear they'll have to get in line behind Spain if they want that. Spanish unemployment now at 20%. The IMF might have to drop Greece to prop up Spain.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 04:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • rebeldenacion

    And just what did you all expect from Argentina, a repeat performance of course.......for your viewing pleasure:
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyPC0SD0PGw
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTBAjfgHLyk&feature=relmfu
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=azwWSN2pukk
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSvQw00SV-c
    www.ripoffreport.com/government-worker/argentina-tourists-m/argentina-tourists-murdered-l-33f51.htm
    www.ripoffreport.com/federal-government/cristina-kirchner/cristina-kirchner-cristina-kir-dc9b0.htm
    Gracias Cristina y Nestor.......oh and thanks too Boudou!!

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 05:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • JimLad

    @ Marcos Alejandro (1)

    A segment from an article in the most recent issue of 'The Navy' (Magazine of the Navy League of Australia).

    “To highlight this further there are some disturbing similarities with the current Argentine government and that of the military dictatorship under General Galtieri. For a start Argentina is not a fully functioning democracy. It has been reported by opposition sources in Argentina that the President is surrounded by a small clique of unquestioning ministers and officials supported by sectors of the media that the government controls, and a praetorian guard of young nationalistic neo-Marxist Peronist activists called La Campora who have taken key positions in government departments and state companies. A new anti-terrorism law has been drafted to curb opposition in the media, which is increasing as the economy deteriorates and the government becomes less popular. This government, like the military dictatorship of 1982, is looking to the Falklands for a political distraction.”

    Moral of the story: Don't throw stones in glass houses.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 07:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • fermin

    @11: do you really believe that the government has the power to control the media?? And apart from that, don't you lnow that there is something called Social Media Technologies nowadays? And these were very favorable for the Argentine Government, the same social media that supported democratic claims in the arab world and also in protests in Europe. While twitter is a headache for the conservative Governments in Italy, Greece, the UK, Spain; it was a relief for Latinamerican governments. This is a proof of the democratic sign that these Governments have nowadays in Southamerica.

    I %100 agree with comment 1 in here, Marcos Alejandro's one.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 07:48 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    @6 Interesting comments. On my last two visits to Buenos Aires I heard an increasing groundswell of opinion that they were better off under a military government.

    I doubt the UK government thinks for one moment Argentina will pay up but it is all part of the drip, drip strategy. The more people realise just how many debts Argentina has no intention of paying, the more unlikely it is they will ever be able to borrow again. And Argentina is desperate to borrow. The money is running out fast.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 08:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Welsh Wizard

    This is just tit for tat. The UK as told the RG gov to go the the Paris Club knowing that if they do they will have to start talking about the 'other' debt. All this does is put Argentinean assets to the tune of £45m in UK jurisdiction at risk, nothing more.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 08:52 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • TipsyThink

    We have to obtain Argentina with anyhow tools smartly,quickly...
    These crap islands not enough for us....Argentina should be ours not other ones'..we can change taste of this infamous,fuzzy Italio-Spanio soup

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 09:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • LEPRecon

    Argentina owes lots of counties money, not just the UK. It has also annoyed the IMF and WTO, so it's doubtful they'll get any financial aid from there in the near future.

    So the UK ask for Argentina to start repaying it's long overdue debt. No doubt the Argentine Government will refuse (like they always do), but it will confirm to other countries around the world that loaning money to or investing in Argentina at the present is not a good idea.

    I mean, if Argentina won't pay it's past debts, why should anyone believe they will will pay off any future debt? It's called having credibility, and from a financial point of view Argentina is fast losing credibility on the world stage.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 10:03 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • honoria

    The answer is clear. The Falkland Islands should install a temporary administration and show Argentina how to run their government properly. Under the leadership of our new Chief Executive (a Yorkshire lad and therefore not easily parted from his brass) it should only take, say, eight to ten years to get the economy back on track. And in the meantime Argentina will learn to love and respect us Falkland Islanders and realise the error of their ways ..... oh, uh .... did I really write that? (rubbing eyes, yawning and slowly waking up to reality)

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 10:23 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • JimLad

    @ fermin (12)

    1) Yes, the Argentine government can control 'sectors of the media' by placing the right sort of people (Kirchnerists, Peronists, Malvinists, La Campora, take your pick) in the right places. And just as we've seen government sponsored thugs recently take to the streets violently protesting in front of the British embassy, ports where British cargo was being offloaded, etc..., the same government sponsored thugs can be set loose upon any media outlet considered to be in opposition to the government's stance...kind of like the Brownshirts in 1930's Germany.

    2) You assume that all of the masses have access to the technology that allows them to use social media.
    You also assume that they don't just spout the same nonsense the government does due to their brainwashed nature. And before you counter my allusion to mass brainwashing, consider the fact that every child in every school in Argentina gets a false concept of history drilled into them from day one, courtesy of the curriculum as approved by the government.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 10:24 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Britishbulldog

    1 Marcos Alejandro, 2 Searinox ---- you two are a laugh a minute I don't know how old you were thirty years ago or even if you were even born but I would be guessing correctly that when the conflict began either you or your parents were on the front line in cheering on your beloved Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli the great dictator who fed you Muppets lie upon lie.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaugiyhWx1w&feature=related

    Watch the video ¾ way through and see for yourselves the crowds that where cheering and supporting him and his Junta and that was just in your Capital. Yes your hypocrites the worse kind of hypocrites the ones that never learn, if your bitch of a President was to be so silly as to invade again you bunch of low life hypocrites would be standing right there cheering and waving you little blue flags,

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 10:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • windy

    So britain was loaning money to a dictator ship(it could be any dictatorship but in this case its the old argentine one) and that dictatorship was using the arm to torture and kill the argentine people. And now the british gov says argentine people (the ones these weapons were used on ) have to pay for the instruments of torture that were used against them.
    The brits will wish they left this little horror story under the rug.
    shameless murderers

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 10:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Musky

    #1 Marcos A
    Well the UK put its foot in it for sure. Still the invasion 3 years down the line would be difficult to predict. According to www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk, which is a UK organisation trying to free Argentina (and others) of the debt, reports that Chile had a sanction against it but Argentina did not, hence the loan went ahead.
    And #1 Marcos A, mentioning Libya is your failure to grasp the realities of a changing world. Your enemy in the morning, could be your friend in the afternoon, especially when you look at Argentina and its Mercurial activities.. blockade Falklands in the morning, then offer 3 flights in the Afternoon.
    However I do concede that the loan was a colossal mistake but Dr Owen played by the book and did not/could not take a personal unilateral decision to block the loan.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 11:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • ElaineB

    @20 The Argentine people tortured Argentine people. You can't sidestep that one however you try to spin it. The UK makes loans of MONEY to governments.

    This attitude to not paying debts is extraordinary. It is like taking out a loan, spending it all on a shoes, and then trying to tell the bank that you don't have to pay the loans back because you don't like the shoes anymore.

    The country of Argentina borrowed money and the country of Argentina needs to repay it or remain a financial pariah. I have heard Argentines say they don't need to borrow money but CFKC would be borrowing hand over fist if she could.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 11:15 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • lsolde

    @15 TipsyThink,
    No thank you, we don't want your broken country.
    Unless of course you all pack up & go home to Spain & ltaly & leave the country empty.
    Then, with compensation to the native Amerindians we could move in, repair the damage that you have done & make something of the place.
    Make it a prosperous country that it should be. lncompetent fools.
    @20 windy,
    We only lent the money(l would not have!), you ldiots decided what to do with it.
    Pay it back, immeadiately.(with compound interest!).
    You are shonky crooks.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 11:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Musky

    @20 windy
    It was a profound mistake to sell arms (ultimately a loan of money) to Argentina. I remember at the time that in news articles during the war it was mentioned that our own weapons were being used against us. Foreign policy favoured Argentina over Chile regarding arms sales as Chile had sanctions. Clearly it would be better to not make such sales/loans to Argentina again and to hope that our foreign policy can block such ministerial stupidity. However Britain arms many countries and this is for their own self preservation against countries like Iran or North Korea or Argentina perhaps. No doubt Argentina claimed self defence as its reason for purchase when filling in the application form as opposed to 'invade falklands' or 'invade Chile' or 'massacre its people'.
    Anyway, Invade Falklands is what they did with the arms, not the massacre of the people.

    Britons are not mind readers and do not possess hindsight.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 12:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Furry-Fat-Feck

    Am I correct in thinking that the Argentinian excuse for not repaying this debt is “tough, you should have known better than to strike a deal with Argentina”. ?

    It is going to come as a real shock to ordinary innocent Argentinians when the reality of isolationism and antagonism practiced by this government eventually hits home. They will have to make a painful transition back global inclusion only to find that investors have learned some very hard lessons about dealing with Argentina and won't touch them with a shitty stick.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 01:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • rule_britannia

    In 1973 President Hector Campora lent Cuba 1.278 million dollars at an annuual interest rate of six percent. This loan, which was for only six years but has never been repaid., now amounts to a staggering 3.961 million dollars, as calculated by the economist Ramon Frediani. That is a lot of money to “give away” to a Communist dictatorship which, according to the Human Rights Watch still “represses nearly all forms of political dissent” so that “Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law”. But, of course, that is the “model” Mrs. Kirchner and her friend Chávez admire so Cuba will get to keep the money and run her many prisons with it (40 maximum-security prisons, 30 minimum-security prisons, and over 200 work camps in the 1990s).

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 02:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • PirateLove

    45 Million pounds?? , that was in 1979 how much is that 45 million worth now?? I bought a pint of milk in 1979 for 15p now to buy a pint costs 75p so that 45 million should be more close to 225 Million pounds (1.5 Billion Argentine dollars) in todays money interest excluded.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 02:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Pirat-Hunter

    Argentina will be happy to repay if UK will pay back for the fish and land british thefted in Islas Malvinas Argentina.....we wait patiently as we did for over 150 years, We are really happy that UK is showing willingness to negotiate with Argentine as UN has being expecting them for a really long time.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 03:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Conqueror

    @1 Go on then. First exhibit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EZx3f2y6Dk an indication of who supported the “criminal dictators”. In the unlikely event that you might “win”, you won't mind if we spend as long paying as it takes you. 33 years so far. Wonder how much the interest is?
    @2 AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Argieland ready to go to the ICJ? 6 hours before the sun goes nova, maybe!
    @4 Let's be fair. Argieland doesn't have enough up-to-date technological equipment to video scenes in more than one place. Lest we (Brits and Falkland Islanders) forget - 40+ million war criminals!
    @8 Sorry, sonny, we still want OUR money back. Even if it takes 200 years!
    @12 Trust that you understand that all “Social Media” is monitored by one government or another. You may not remember the text that sees you pedalling air over the River Plate.
    @20 Sorry? We loaned you some money. How you used it was your business. Let us not forget - 40+ million war criminals!
    @27 “Dollars”? Do you mean “pesos”? Let us not forget that one 70s peso is worth 10 million current pesos. Now how much do they owe us? Including interest!

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 03:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Marcos Alejandro

    Breaking news but nothing new, support bloody dictators in the morning bombing in the afternoon.

    11 Apr 2012

    “Tony Blair: no recollection of Libyan rendition case”

    “Libyans Sami Al Saadi and Abdel Hakim Belhadj are SUING the British Government for what they claim is its complicity in their alleged rendition and torture in 2004 after several documents emerged in the wake of the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime last year.


    Asked about the incident, and whether similar examples lay behind distrust of the West, Mr Blair said: ''About the Belhadj case, I don't have any recollection of it at all”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9197891/Tony-Blair-no-recollection-of-Libyan-rendition-case.html

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 04:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Furry-Fat-Feck

    @30 Marcos Alejandro (#)
    Apr 11th, 2012 - 04:19 pm

    Tony B(liar). Former leader of a former Liabour government in the UK.

    Leopoldo Galtieri. Former leader of a former military government in Argentina.

    There is a pattern forming here. Because if you assume that the present day UK government is responsible for the wrong doings of all other UK governments that went before it then the same can be assumed for the present day Argentine government.

    Except that we have established that Argentina doesn't play by the rules and yet demands that everybody else does.

    Sorry. Been there, done that. Not doing it again.

    You really must try harder.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 04:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • windy

    I suppose the next logical step would be for the germans to send a gas bill to the jewish people for the expenses incurred while killing their relatives.
    Britain can go to hell with this bill and should indeed be sued for arming state terrorists.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 05:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Marcos Alejandro

    32 windy, I totally agree.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 05:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    perhaps the UK should send in the bailiffs,

    but like windy says, its all just wind,
    and he should know, should he not .

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 05:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Conqueror

    @32 Reparations please. Let's start with £450 billion in respect of the loans. Just to take account of how little argie “money” is worth. Then a further £20 billion for the invasion and war. Then a further £30 billion to cover minefield removal, loss of amenity, distress to the Islanders. To be paid in gold!

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 06:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Brit Bob

    We will get the money via the Paris club when Argentina needs more cash - probably sooner rather that later.

    It also goes to PROVE that Argentina has a history of not honouring agreements; something the whole world knows. This will eventually prove very counter-productive to the Argentine economy.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 07:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Marcos Alejandro

    35 Conqueror “Reparations please”
    About time...

    http://www.britishreparations.org/commercial.php

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 08:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    37
    should not argentina lead by example,

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 09:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • rule_britannia

    26 rule_britannia (#) Talking to myself again? ... Ah well, c'est la vie. What's the difference between Britain lending to the Argentina and Argentina lending to Fidel Castro in the 1970s? Was Fidel Castro more democratic or less of a despot than Videla? 11,000 dead in a tiny c0untry like Cuba doesn't seem worse than 15,000 dead (inflated up to 30,000 by certain human rights organisations) in a relatively larger country like Argentina.

    Apr 11th, 2012 - 10:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • toooldtodieyoung

    This is great but what are the Argentinians going to pay in?
    Shares in YPF?
    Hotel chains maybe?
    or are they going to sell out their own people ( again?? )

    Apr 12th, 2012 - 11:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    I.O.Us
    perhaps.

    Apr 12th, 2012 - 08:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Pirat-Hunter

    UK final straw and showing willing to negotiate Islas Malvinas Argentina's as UN demanded for decades, the major problem is that no amount of money can ever re-pay all the fish thefted for more then 150 years, as it stands with going back home will suffice.

    Apr 12th, 2012 - 09:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    can you prove the little fishes belong to argentina,

    what if the little fished want to be free .

    Apr 12th, 2012 - 09:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Pirat-Hunter

    Yes I can I have a bill for British to show them, we are just waiting for UK to meet UN's demands. UK didn't care for the fish or the black slaves when they sold them without rights to protect them, now it's time for payback as you can see in this report. I imagine UK will reward the black community for the slave trade as we all pay our dues to humanity.

    Apr 12th, 2012 - 10:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    isnt it great, that argentina is so perfect,
    never had slaves ,
    and always polite to the sea life,

    sounds a bit fishy to me .

    Apr 13th, 2012 - 10:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • lsolde

    briton,
    They're all Cristina's slaves.....

    Apr 13th, 2012 - 12:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • briton

    most true .

    Apr 13th, 2012 - 05:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • fermin

    @18: “government sponsored thugs recently take to the streets violently protesting in front of the British embassy” WHAT??? LOL you are really not informed, I guess your favourite News channel forgot to show you the part where the Argentine Government expressed a deep dislike for these incidents, I guess the media operation caused its effect on people like you, showing aggression and making it look as if the government supported it pays off for the British Government.

    “the Argentine government can control 'sectors of the media' by placing the right sort of people [...] in the right places.” Really??? Places like which ones?? Can you even believe what you are saying yourself?

    Have you got any idea of all the different media that in Argentina are against the Government? Nobody silenced them, even when they are giving wrong information to people, but it seems they want to be the only voices... They want to go on controlling the media.

    @36: I don't know what measurement method are you using to say this, but before calling Argentina has a history of not honouring agreements, ask yourself is the Institutions like IMF and the World Bank WANT countries like Spain, Argentina, Greece, etc to honor agreements, lending money is a way of controlling societies also, the IMF never lent money for the good of humanity, they have money, they do not know where to put it and they press governments of countries like those to take debts.

    And what countries would you add to the list of the ones that honor agreements? The countries that in stead of using diplomacy participated in the World Wars??

    The UK doesn't seem to like agreements... Maybe you can give advice to Cameron, he needs conflict, no conflict = no wars, no wars=no grabbing of resources and no business for military industries.

    And if you like talking about agreements, Argentine 2001 crisis was caused in part by speculation of foreign corporations and banks (like HSBC) that never gave the argentines their money back.

    Apr 14th, 2012 - 11:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • lsolde

    Of course, of course.
    How silly of me.
    Everyone else in the world has to pay back what they borrowed
    l repaid my father in full for putting me through university.
    But Argentina is a special case.
    They are quite happy to borrow, but they think that they're not expected to pay it back.
    Now its clearer.
    Poltroons.

    Apr 15th, 2012 - 08:53 am - Link - Report abuse 0

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