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Bondholders affirm they will not try to embargo
EL CRONISTA
September 04, 2008

Interview with Hans Hume, leader of the bondholders

By Juan Cerruti

Hans Hume was one of the leaders of the bondholders grouped together at world level whom for years, travelled through different countries to try and raise awareness about the damage which the gigantic default on the Argentine debt. He rejected the debt swap which Nestor Kirchner's government proposed and from the vice presidency of the Global Committee of Creditors has given the Ministry of Economy more than one headache.

In conversations with El Cronista from new York, Humes yesterday gave his impressions of the announcement to write off the Paris Club debt:

Cronista: What did you think of the suprising announcement that President Cristina Fern ndez de Krchner made concerning their intention to pay Paris Club?

HH: I found out through the media and to tell you the truth I was surprised as well. A priori, what I can say is that any measure taken by the Argentine Government to resolve its situation with the international creditors has my full support.

Cronista: You have for many years been calling for the small and medium-sized bondholders to be paid off as well. Don't you think that it is unfair that a payment is now being announced to be made upfront for all the outstanding debt with the Paris Club?

HH: This is an issue which we have not yet fully analyzed. Neither have we held any recent communication or contact with the Argentine government. We have for some time chosen to deal with our claims through legal channels.

Cronista: One of the fears the Argentine government has is that the operation to pay off the Paris Club may be the object of attempts to embargo that money on behalf of the creditors or "vulture funds". Do you think this possible?

HH: The only thing I can tell you on that subject is that we will not do anything to prevent the payment being fulfilled.

Cronista: Do you think that as from the cancellation of this debt investment into Argentina will increase?

HH: I don't know. That depends on a number of factors. I think that if this situation is finally satisfactorily resolved, Argentina does indeed have good opportunities. For example, we renegotiated the debt with Nicaragua in December 2006 and now we are seeing how investments are coming in at a good pace to that country.