News Center

The U.S. is ready to talk about Argentina's debt with the Paris Club
Clarin
July 09, 2008

By Ana Baron

The diplomat said that Washington would help if there is a "serious proposal".

On the eve of U.S.-Argentine bilateral meetings that will take place in Buenos Aires from Thursday the 10th to Saturday the 12th of July, the undersecretary for Hemispheric Affairs, Thomas Shannon, said that the U.S. is ready to help Argentina in its eventual negotiations with the Paris Club. In fact, during the interview he gave to Clarin before departing, Shannon confirmed that the man in charge of Latin America at Treasury, Brian O'Neill, will be part of the U.S. delegation.

The ambassador to the White House, Hector Timerman, was, however, blunt to affirm that "the issue of the Paris Club" is not on the meetings agenda. Simply it has not been included, he said to this correspondent. This means that the Argentine government doesn't want to discuss this issue. One of the problems of including the Paris Club on the official economic agenda of these meetings is that the government doesn't want to open the discussion about the need of some type of oversight by the IMF. The Fund is not in agreement with the inflation index at INDEC and under such conditions it's hard to see the offer of a certificate of good conduct, to say the least.

Neither did the official economic agenda include, according to what Clarin could access, the problem of the bondholders that fell outside the foreign debt swap, which is an issue that concerns Washington and that Shannon didn't rule out being approached.

Shannon made it clear, also, that his arrival in Buenos Aires should not be interpreted as a sign of support by the U.S. for the government of Cristina Kirchner in the conflict with the farm sector. On the contrary, he spoke of the need to put an accent on the interests between the two countries over the long term that will come up beyond the governments of George Bush and Cristina Kirchner.

"We have a commitment to Argentina. We are building relations between the U.S. and Argentina that will be strong and deep. So we are not going to involve ourselves in the internal affairs of Argentina. On the contrary, we are trying to show that there are interests between Argentina and the U.S. that will endure," he said.

Quotes:

-- What could be expected concretely from these meetings: "The proposal is to begin a new structure to guide our bilateral relations and ensure that there is a high-level dialogue around those most important issues for both countries. Also we are seeking ways to define the bilateral relationship in terms of points of convergence and not on differences."

-- The turbulence generated over the Antonini case is over: "It has been for a long time. This is an issue that is moving in our courts and our judges will resolve this issue."

-- There will be cooperation between both judiciaries over this case: "They will speak about this issue during the meetings between the officials of the respective justice ministries that will participate in the bilateral meetings. We are not going to talk about this issue, but I don't know if the Argentine side will want to speak about this issue. I have my doubts."

-- They will discuss the negotiations with the Paris Club in the meetings: "We are always ready to take about those issues. In my last visit I made very clear our interest in helping Argentina seek a solution with the Paris Club. We are ready to listen to what the Argentines want to share with us, if they have a serious proposal."