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Argentina is in
grave danger!
Stop the Vultures

  • Wall Street vulture funds and a confused Nixon-appointed NY district court judge are using vicious legal maneuvers to jeopardize the bond restructuring agreements Argentina made after its 2001 default for nothing but pure greed and profit.
  • The world’s top economists, the US State department and world leaders from all over the globe agree this move would imperil sovereign bailout agreements and endanger the global economy.

Scroll Down to learn more about how this unjust situation came to be and what we can do about it.

The Birth of Vulture Funds

Panamanian bonds

In 1995 defaulted Panamanian bonds were bought up by Elliot Mnt and tried in New York district courts breaking with the long-standing tradition of international law in which sovereign governments are not sued in district courts.


Negotiations

In the past countries in severe states of economic distress could negotiate agreements with the IMF and World Bank - much like businesses do during bankruptcy.


Wall Street Trickster

This opened the doorway for Wall Street tricksters with large amounts of capital, an army of attorneys, greed and no conscience to prey upon bankrupt nations like vultures. Forcing the impoverished nations to pay huge sums instead of facing economic recovery. Read more about Vultures Funds >

But WHO are the Vultures?

Vulture
Vulture
They have a
History of
Dirty
Tactics
Vulture
And lots of
money for
Lobby
Power

How they Act

  1. Extortion
    1. Vulture funds don’t exist to make money on investments. Their method is to make huge profits through extortion and interfering with bankrupt nations as they try to negotiate good terms on debts they cannot pay.
  2. Elliot
    2. Paul Singer - with a total wealth of 1.5 Billion - is perhaps the best example of the advantages the 1% take from the system. He has poured millions to date into Republican super-PACs.
  3. Loopholes
    3. The vultures hold accounts off-shore and use US legal loopholes to pay next to nothing on their profits in the act of swindling.

Read More about the Vultures >

Roadmap to Argentina's
Default

  • Argentine debt restructuring

    2005 & 2010 - Argentine debt restructuring

    Argentina’s crisis in 2001 caused its financial system to collapse - leaving it bankrupt and unable to service its bonds. Between 2005 and 2010, Argentina's Government made arrangements with 92% of bond holders. Some of those who didn't accept the deal started litigation against the country.

  • then..
  • Singer's Vulture Funds Buys Bonds on the Cheap and Sues on the High

    2011 - Singer's Vulture Funds Buys Bonds on the Cheap and Sues on the High

    Paul Singer's Elliot Management buys huge amounts of bonds cheap from “hold-outs” - bondholders who did not accept the offer of restructuring from Argentina. He then sues for the full amount of the bonds - 1300% the value he bought them for.

  • then..
  • Judge Griesa rules in Elliot's favor

    2012 - Judge Griesa rules in Elliot's favor

    Judge Griesa rules in Elliott's favor - and "puts teeth" in decision - citing on a legal principle called “pari passu” - which requires New York banks who manage the bond payments to hold ransom payments - as “extortion” - to other bond holders who agreed to restructuring until the vultures are paid first.

  • then..
  • SCOTUS refuses to hear the case

    June 2014 - SCOTUS refuses to hear the case

    In June 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States refuses to hear the case. Because of this, Griesa’s sentence is confirmed and the clock starts to run out driving the nation towards default.

  • then..
  • A Default is born

    July 2014 - A Default is born

    With no agreement to pay Vultures - NY banks don't pay other bond holders and Argentina is officially in default.

Read More History >

Even the US department of Justice recognized that adopting the legal theories the Vultures are proposing in the case would imperil sovereign bailout agreements worldwide, negatively impact the global economy, and open the door for a new era of predatory vulture investment.

See the actual Amicus brief filed by the Department of Justice

Judge Thomas Poole Griesa

is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Griesa
  • 83 Years Old. Appointed by Nixon, so do the math...
  • Insanely Right Wing. Seriously, insanely right wing.
  • Often confused and turning in circles throughout case.

  • “[It’s] clear that he had not completely understood the bond transactions that he had been ruling on for years.”

    Floyd Norris, New York Times Source

  • “It’s a judicial scandal...he acts as an “omnipotent character, when in truth he is almost a municipal judge.”

    Argentine Supreme Court Judge Zaffaroni Source

  • “I spoke with Pope Francis about Judge [Thomas] Griesa. He said that Griesa is further right than right-wing Republicans and that he wants to ruin Argentine debt restructuring.”

    Deputy Governor of Buenos Aires province Gabriel Mariotto Source

History recap: Argentina

Defaulted

Already carried a HUGE debt when it defaulted on 2001.

The defaulted debt grew exponentially during the previous decades. Not all of it was taken by democratic governments.

Part by the Dictatorship
(1976-1983)

The Dictatorship (1976-1983)
  • Debt increased by more than 400% $8 Bn to $35 Bn
  • Trained at the school of Americas by U.S. Officers
  • Took country by force and dissapeared 30,000 people
  • Took money and gave to the rich and spent on war

Part by President Carlos S. Menem
(in office 1989-1999)

Carlos S. Menem
  • Sold public goods and services
  • Failed neo-liberal policies bankrupt nation
  • Destroyed country’s industry
  • Encouraged international financial speculation
  • Took the money and gave it to his buddies
  • Darling of US administrations (Bush and Clinton)

A Time bomb for Argentina’s Future

  • Amount of Lawsuit: 1.33 Billion (That's a lot of money!)
  • Up to: 120 Billion (Included other potential bondholder lawsuits)

Other restructured bonds have a clause that says they need to be offered as good a deal as any later agreements.
See more about the Argentina’s restructuring in jeopardy.

Economists

agree it is terrible for the world economy.

 
  • “It’s a widely shared opinion among economists that the court’s attempt to force Argentina into a default that nobody – not the debtor nor more than 90 percent of creditors – wants, is wrong and damaging”

    Mark Weisbrot Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research Source

  • “Repayment on Griesa's terms would devastate Argentina's economy. NML Capital and the other vultures comprise just 1% of the creditors, but would receive a total of $1.5bn. Other holdouts (6.6% of total creditors) would receive $15bn. And, because the debt restructuring stipulated that all of the creditors who accepted it could demand the same terms as holdouts receive, Argentina might be on the hook for $140bn more.”

    Joseph E. Stiglitz Nobel Laureate in Economics Columbia University Source

  • “[Argentina’s President] refers to the holdouts as “vultures”. This seems unfair to the birds. Vultures perform a valuable task. Holdouts do not recycle carrion but insist the carcass can meet its obligations – a strategy that can succeed only at the expense of those creditors who accept the reality that it cannot. The more successful this holdout strategy, the harder restructurings will become.”

    Martin Wolf Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times Source

Over 100 economists, including Nobel laureate Robert Solow, Branko Milanovic and Dani Rodrik, have written to the US Congress calling on them to pass legislation to mitigate fallout from the court judgement against Argentina in favour of vulture funds. Source


AND

140+ Countries

officially support Argentina’s claim.

  • United Kingdom · Brazil · Cambodia · Cuba · Chile · Sudan · Jamaica · Bolivia · Peru · Ecuador
  • Pakistan · Nicaragua · France · Afghanistan · Algeria · Guinea · Niger · Haiti · Nigeria · Benin
  • China · Uruguay · Guatemala · India Panama · Burkina Faso · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · Chile
  • Colombia · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Congo (Brazzaville) · Costa Rica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador
  • Egypt · El Salvador · Ethiopia · Gabon · Ghana · Iraq · Jamaica · Jordan · Kenya · Kuwait · Laos
  • Lebanon · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malaysia · Mali · Mauritania · Morocco · Myanmar
  • Nicaragua · Paraguay · Peru · Philippines · Rwanda · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Sierra Leone
  • Sri Lanka · Sudan · Syria · Tanzania · Thailand · Togo · Trinidad and Tobago · Tunisia · Uganda
  • Uruguay · Venezuela · Vietnam · Yemen · Barbados · Belize · Indonesia · Antigua and Barbuda
  • Bahamas · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Honduras · Angola · Nepal · Somalia

How Bad is this in the end? Bad!

  • ONE MAN

    ONE MAN

    holds the power of determination of fate of country. How can that be fair?

  • NO CREDIT

    NO CREDIT

    Not only would the payout be huge, but failure to pay others impacts Argentina's credit.

  • RUINS

    RUINS

    the fair agreements with other bondholders, while making future bailout negotiations more difficult.

  • ARGENTINA

    ARGENTINA

    continues to not have the ability to return to normal economic standing which will result in many more years of suffering.

“A general default would lock the country out of US financial markets for years ...The economy is also fragile and a general default, the second in 15 years, could precipitate a full-blown crisis.”

- Financial Times - Read More >

Has a REAL IMPACT on real people’s lives

There is a solution


We, the Undersigned

  1. Support the right of Argentina and other poor nations in their fight against vulture funds.
  2. Call on the UN to enact international conventions to prevent speculative attacks by vulture funds.
  3. Call on the US Congress and the European Parliament to enact anti-vulture legislation.
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*please note, we may share your information but will only do so with the organizations listed below and only to engage in urgent actions related to the fight against vulture fund activity. We need everyone’s voice to make this movement succeed.

Help further by supporting these organizations:

Jubilee Debt Campaign UK
Jubilee Debt
Campaign UK
European Network on Debt and Development
European Network on
Debt and Development
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