What's going on with the Prez and Argentina?

[bigtree]

REUTERS

I'd be interested in knowing what President Obama (and Sec. Clinton) have been discussing with Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at the Americas Summit in Cartagena the past couple of days . . .

At the end of last month, the Obama administration suspended trade benefits for Argentina because of the South American country's failure to pay more than $300 million in compensation awards in two disputes involving American investors.

In a seemingly contradictory move, the administration also sided with Argentina this month in the attempts by other countries to force them to use more than $45 billion of theirs in Central Bank reserves to pay the debts.


REUTERS

In a document named “Amicus Curiae” the administration of President Barack Obama on Thursday urged the US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to reverse rulings directing Argentina to make payments to Elliott Management Corp.’s NML Capital Fund before it makes payments to others on bonds the republic issued in its 2005 and 2010 debt restructurings.

There's also the controversy over President Kirchner's hard-line stance against what she terms British 'colonialism' in the Falklands. The Obama administration has, so far, refused to take sides in the dispute, urging instead, that Britain and Argentina work to settle their differences diplomatically. Although it's hard to see the U.S. taking Argentina's side on that, it must irk London that President Obama hasn't been willing to just sever our 'friendship' with Argentina and side with our longtime and most prominent ally.

So, anyway, this is an interesting photo which has made many headlines in Argentina today . . .


(Obama Diary)

[bigtree]

1. heh. well,

. . . I guess I'll get my poms back out and find some pics of Obama kissing babies.

[Fumesucker]

2. You could always do a K&R if you like Obama OP

Those are good for plenty of recs..

[inna]

3. sounds like a good plan

[madokie]

4. I don't know what he's doing but I'm sure glad its him and not mcCain and or word salad Sarah

[bigtree]

5. 'word salad sara'

!!

[madokie]

7. As she was so affectionately known as at the time she and john the pilot

were campaigning for the white house.

[Cleita]

6. He's right to stay out of the Falkland's Islands debacle.

We really don't have a dog in that fight. However, whatever he's doing is based on our Monroe Doctrine failed policy towards Latin America. We really need to ditch that and start bringing those countries in as equal partners, often with differences from our culture. Instead of basing our policies on what's good for the American corporations operating through South America, we need to base our policies on what is good for everyone in the Western Hemisphere.

[bigtree]

8. in this case, it's interesting

. . . how Argentina is advantaged by the U.S. insistence (in the court case) that they adhere to the international agreements designed to restructure their debt and not pay the 'vulture' investors before making payments to investors who agreed to participate in the debt restructuring that followed Argentina’s 2002 bond default.

We can complain all we want about U.S. paternalism, but I doubt Argentina would willingly sever those agreements which keep debtors at bay. That's what makes the arguments about Argentina as an 'equal partner' so vexing.