
By Greg Palast (*) - US president need only inform a federal judge that vulture fund billionaire Paul Singer is interfering with the president's sole authority to conduct foreign policy. He hasn't. But why not?

New York District judge Thomas Griesa has scheduled a hearing at 4 pm local time on Friday to address Argentina's recent public statements over their attempts to pay creditors, a court official said. Representatives from both Argentina and holdout investors have been called to the hearing, which will take place in New York.

New York district judge Thomas Griesa and the Argentine government are again on the collision course: while the magistrate has ordered the Bank of New York Mellon to retain the funds deposited by Argentina to pay exchange bondholders and declaring the payment “illegal”, the Ministry of Economy in Buenos Aires suggested bondholder should change BONY for a new intermediary institution.

The Argentine Government will formally demand that Citibank and the Bank of New York Mellon pay exchange bondholders, the Economy Ministry informed on Tuesday in a press release.

Argentina's Legal and Technical Secretary to the Presidency Carlos Zannini is overseeing a group of experts in international law as they draft the suit the government of President Cristina Fernandez will file against US Judge Thomas Griesa’s ruling on full repayment to holdout bondholders at International Court of Justice in the Hague, according to Noticias Argentinas-

U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa on Monday turned back an effort by Argentina's government to remove the court-appointed mediator in the dispute with creditors that triggered a 'selective default' situation by the country last week. He also revealed that the default condition was at his direction and was 'accurate'.

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 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.