By Eileen Appelbaum (The New York Times) - There is no way to construe as fair the United States court ruling that Argentina cannot pay 93% of its creditors, unless it first pays a small group of hedge funds. It's not fair to the 93% of bondholders who negotiated a restructuring of Argentina’s debt in 2005 and 2010 with reduced payments.
The European Union (EU) has recognized Argentina as one of the few countries able to export high-quality beef under the “feed-lot quota” to the European market, a press release from the Argentine Foreign Ministry informed on Sunday.
The Falklands/Malvinas war, the 2001 default and the 2014 default are the three events that are going to go down, in recent Argentina history, as the three worst strategic mistakes committed by the country, according to political analyst and historian Rosendo Fraga.
The following article by Peter Eavis and Alexandra Stevenson was published in The New York Times and addresses the current litigation between Argentina and the speculative funds. The hedge fund firm of billionaire Paul E. Singer has about 300 employees, yet it has managed to force Argentina, a nation of 41 million people, into a position where it now has to contemplate a humbling surrender.
The following piece published in The New York Times was written by Joseph E. Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and a former chief economist of the World Bank, and currently a professor at Columbia University.
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on Friday declared Argentina in default, which could trigger payments worth up to one billion dollars on credit default swaps.
The Argentine Economy Ministry claimed on Friday New York judge Thomas Griesa has benefited “vulture funds” during negotiations over Argentina's defaulted debt with holdouts and asked the (Argentine) National Values Commission (CNV) to start an investigation over alleged “speculative moves”.
The leading Brazilian newspapers blasted Argentine president Cristina Fernandez as the sole responsible for the 'default event' which followed the failure of negotiations with holdouts in New York. This despite the fact Brazilian economy minister Guido Mantega denied Argentina was in default and strongly supported the Argentine government.
US District Judge Thomas Griesa presiding over Argentina's bitter dispute with two hedge funds left the country stranded in default on Friday, ordering it to hold new negotiations and calling for an end to mistrust. In a stern tone Griesa slammed the decision by Argentina to defy his order that it pay in full holdout investors and instead opted to default on 29 billion dollars in debt.
Aurelius Capital Management has shot down speculation that the hedge fund was fielding a viable private-sector proposal for selling its untendered Argentine sovereign debt in a bid to shorten the amount of time Argentina is in default.