Argentine President: We Will Never Honor ‘International Usury or International Fraud’

For the first time since its 2001 debt default, on April 21 Argentina successfully carried out a domestic bond issuance in the amount of $1.4 billion, defying its enemies in London and Wall Street, and the vulture funds they control, which had predicted the nation would never return to the capital market unless it gave in to the vultures’ extortion.

As Finance Minister Axel Kicillof announced from Moscow the same day, the vulture funds controlled by multibillionaire Paul Singer failed “to scare off investors” with the threat that they would block the issuance of the Bonar-2024 bonds. The $1.4 billion would be invested productively in infrastructure development, he said.

In an April 28 speech in Buenos Aires, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had more to say on this issue, ridiculing predictions made by the vultures and their local allies that unless Argentina agreed to pay these predators, it would collapse into economic chaos, lose reserves, suffer devaluation and capital flight, and remain entirely “isolated” internationally.

Argentina isn’t isolated, because it didn’t capitulate, she said. The government was able to return to the capital markets, she added:

“…Because we’ve honored the debt and will continue to honor it; but what we will never honor is international usury and international fraud. That you don’t honor; God forbids it, the Torah forbids it, the Koran forbids it. It is forbidden by all those who believe you can’t exploit the human being, sacrifice a people and a history to honor a handful [of vultures] who seized funds and resources for very little money and now expect to win exorbitant sums.”

Argentina, she said, has accomplished more than it set out to do, and proven “that for a country to function … you don’t have to let yourself be dragged down. You need a great deal of patriotism, dignity, much courage and a great deal of willpower.”