News Center

Communiqu from the Bush Administration
La Razon
September 03, 2008

The US gave its support but asked that all the creditors be attended to

Washington showed itself "satisfied" with the announcement, although it made claims on behalf of the bondholders who were left out of the debt swap.

The US government yesterday manifested its satisfaction over the decision to pay off the Paris Club debt although it warned that it hopes that the country will normalize its financial relationships "with all of its external creditors".

"The United States is pleased with the announcement made by president Cristina Fern ndez de Kirchner that the Argentine government intends to pay its debt with the Paris Club," says the communiqu which is signed by the spokesman for the State Department, Sean McCormack. The Bush administration considered in the release that the decision "represents an important first step towards the consolidation of the positioning sought by the Argentine Republic in the international markets". The text goes on to say that "this key step will opportunities for US financial institutions and international investors restart their operations in Argentina."

However, this is followed by the claim, "We hope to work with the Argentine government as it normalizes its financial relationships with all of its external creditors and with the international financial community.

Although the communiqu does not say so explicitly, this would seem to be referring to the bondholders left out of the debt swap (the holdouts) held in 2005. These are people who own some 20 billion dollars in bonds which are in default, including the powerful US American Task Force Argentina (ATFA). The Government has made it clear on more than one occasion that it will not reopen the swap.