Un amplio grupo de parlamentarios de distintos partidos, prominentes economistas, intelectuales, periodistas, referentes de la opinión pública local, sindicalistas y activistas británicos sumaron sus nombres a una declaración de “Solidaridad con la Argentina contra los fondos buitre”, que alcanzaron a la Embajada Argentina en Londres.

El pasado 4 de junio además, más de cien parlamentarios británicos presentaron una moción contra el accionar de los especuladores y a favor de la Argentina.

 

El texto de solidaridad condena la reciente decisión de la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos de rechazar la apelación argentina, advierte sobre el peligro que el fallo conlleva para los procesos de reestructuración de deuda y llama a los principales organismos reguladores internacionales a rechazar la decisión del máximo tribunal estadounidense y a trabajar en la creación de un mecanismo de arbitraje para deudas soberanas que sea transparente, independiente y justo.       

 

A continuación se transcribe el texto completo de la declaración.

 

Solidaridad con la Argentina contra los fondos buitre

 

Nosotros, los abajo firmantes, condenamos la decisión de la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos del pasado 16 de junio de 2014, en la que dicho tribunal rechazara la apelación de la Argentina en su caso contra los fondos buitre. Estos fondos se dedican a comprar deuda devaluada a precio vil a sus tenedores originales, para luego tratar de obtener ganancias extraordinarias a través de litigios judiciales, partiendo de una inversión inicial mínima. 

 

Fallos previos de tribunales inferiores favorables a los fondos buitre ya habían suscitado diversas críticas desde numerosos sectores. Más de cien parlamentarios británicos expresaron su preocupación de que “los fondos buitre están impidiendo la justa implementación de los procesos de reestructuración de deuda” e instaron al Gobierno del Reino Unido a compartir su experiencia legislativa en materia de fondos buitre con el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Asimismo, llamaron a impulsar propuestas legislativas para impedir que los fondos buitre obstaculicen los procesos de reestructuración de deuda en los casos de Argentina y Grecia en los tribunales británicos, y apoyaron la creación de un “mecanismo de arbitraje para deudas soberanas justo, independiente y transparente”.    

 

El G77 más China –grupo multilateral formado por 133 países– expresó en su última declaración “la importancia de no permitir que los fondos buitre paralicen las actividades de reestructuración de la deuda de los países en desarrollo ni priven a los Estados de su derecho a proteger a su pueblo conforme al derecho internacional”.      

 

Al privilegiar los intereses de un pequeño grupo de especuladores, la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos ha puesto en peligro el pago regular que la Argentina viene realizando a más del noventa por ciento de sus acreedores, quienes ya han aceptado una quita sustancial sobre sus títulos originales luego del default soberano de hace más de una década.

 

El fallo rechaza toda noción de responsabilidad de los acreedores y, por tanto, anula cualquier incentivo que estos pudieran tener para comprometerse en un proceso de renegociación.  

 

Si el fallo forzara a la Argentina a un nuevo default, echaría por tierra años de esfuerzos por parte del Gobierno argentino para normalizar su situación frente a los mercados de capitales.         

 

La Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos sostiene que actuó con el objetivo de preservar el status de Nueva York como uno de los principales mercados de capitales. No obstante, el efecto bien podría ser el opuesto, llevando a futuros tomadores de deuda hacia otras plazas.

 

Esta decisión supone una serie amenaza no solo para la Argentina y su pueblo, sino para todas las naciones, tanto desarrolladas como en desarrollo.

 

Nos unimos a esta corriente internacional de opinión en su llamamiento a los principales organismos reguladores internacionales para que rechacen la decisión de la Corte y comiencen a trabajar en la creación de un mecanismo de arbitraje para deudas soberanas justo, independiente y transparente.       

 

Firmantes:

 

JEREMY CORBYN (MP Labour)

ROGER GODSIFF (MP Labour)

ANDREW GWYNNE (MP Labour)

JOHN McDONNELL (MP Labour)

GRAHAME MORRIS (MP Labour)

GEORGE GALLOWAY (MP Respect Party)

JOHN LEECH (MP Lib-Dem)

NEIL FINDLAY (MSP Scottish Labour Party)

ELAINE SMITH (MSP, Presiding Officer, Scottish Labour Party)

COLIN BURGON (Former MP Labour)

ALAN FREEMAN (Economist)

COSTAS DOUZINAS (Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London)

JOHN KING (Professor of Latin American Studies, University of Warwick)

ANDY DENIS (Department of Economics, City University London)

GUILLERMO MAKIN (Cambridge University)

BEN FINE (Professor of Economics, University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS)

JOHN WEEKS (Economist, SOAS, University of London)

TERRY MCKINLEY (Director, Centre for Development Policy and Research, SOAS)

MALCOLM SAWYER (Department of Economics, University of Leeds)

COSTAS LAPAVITSAS (SOAS, University of London)

CARLOS OYA (Department of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London)

JAN TOPOROWSKI (Department of Economics, SOAS, University of London)

CHRISTOPHER CRAMER (Professor of Economics, SOAS, University of London)

DOREEN MASSEY (Professor, Open University)

SIMON MOHUN (Emeritus Professor, Queen Mary University of London)

JOHN GRAHL (Professor of Economics, Middlesex University) 

 MICHAEL BURKE (Socialist Economic Bulletin)

RONALD STAMPER (Professor (r), University of Twente, the Netherlands)

HULYA DAGDEVIREN (Professor, University of Hertfordshire)

TURAN SUBASAT (Economics, University of Izmir, Turkey)

ALEXIS LITVINE (Trinity College, Cambridge)

FRANCISCO PANIZZA (Professor, London School of Economics)

FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ (Professor, University of Middlesex)

MATÍAS VERNENGO (Associate Professor, Bucknell University)

JEFF TAN (Economist, Aga Khan University)

PRITAM SINGH (Economics Professor, Oxford Brookes University)

RADHIKA DESAI (Economist, Professor, University of Manitoba)

NICOLA ACOCELLA (Faculty of Economics, La Sapienza, University of Rome)

TREVOR EVANS (Professor of Economics, Berlin School of Economics and Law)

ENGELBERT STOCHAMMER (Professor of Economics, Kingston University)

ANIS CHOWDHURY (Former Professor of Economics, University of Western Sydney)

OSLEM ONARAN (Professor of Economics, University of Greenwich)

CHANTAL MOUFFE DE LACLAU (Writer)

JULIAN ASSANGE (Publisher of WIKILEAKS)

JOSEPH FARRELL (Ambassador of WIKILEAKS)

CLLR MARTIN TIEDEMANN (Labour and Co-operative Councillor, London Borough of Lambeth)

ROSE CORWAY-WALSH (Sinn Féin)

TARIQ ALI (Writer, Journalist and Filmmaker)

RICHARD GOTT (Writer, Journalist)

BRIAN PRECIOUS (Journalist)

JEREMY FOX (Writer, Open Democracy)

JOHN WILSON (President, Anglo Argentine Society)

SERGIO SCHUCHINSKY (President, Asociación de Argentinos en Inglaterra, ARENIN)

GAVIN MACFAYDEN (Director, Centre for Investigative Journalism, Goldsmiths, University of London)

JEFF MADRICK (Century Foundation)

BILLY HAYES (General Secretary, Communication Workers Union, CWU)

DOUG NICHOLLS (General Secretary, General Federation of Trade Unions, GFTU)

FRANCES O’GRADY (General Secretary Trade Union Congress, TUC)

BERNARD REGAN (Chair, South East Region International Committee, TUC)

NICOLA HOARAU (The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, RMT)

MICHAEL CARTY (RMT)

DAVID WALLIS (RMT)

JACQUE WALLIS (RMT)

ALEX GORDON (Former President RMT and General Secretary candidate)

GABRIEL MOCHO RODRIGUEZ (International Transport Worker´s Federation, ITF)

ENRIQUE LOZANO (ITF)

YURY SUKHORUKOV (ITF)

ROB MILLER (Director Cuba Solidarity Campaign)

KEITH SONNET (Cuba Solidarity Campaign)

MATT WILGRESS (Venezuela Solidarity Campaign and North London Stop the War Coalition)

ANDY NEWMAN (Labour parliamentary candidate, Chippenham)

MAGGIE BOWDEN (General Secretary, Liberation, formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom)

AARON KIELY (National Union of Students, NEC)

RICHARD BAGLEY (Editor, Morning Star)

JOHN HAYLETT (Political Editor, Morning Star)

LUKE DANIELS (President, Caribbean Labour Solidarity)

MIKE PHIPPS (Labour Representation Committee)

ROB GRIFFITHS (General Secretary, Communist Party of Britain)

CARLOS MARTINEZ (Music Producer)

JOHN GREEN (Journalist and author)

BRUNI DE LA MOTTE (Academic)

TIM SIRET (Comrades of the World)

TANIA BRONSTEIN (Chair, Latin American Women's Rights Service)

JUAN CARLOS PIEDRA (Director, Movimiento Ecuador en el Reino Unido)

ANCIZAR MORALES (The Latin American School of Artistic and Cultural Education, ESFORAL)

SUSAN BENN (President Performing Arts Labs)

GERONIMO ENRIQUE RAUCH (Actor-Singer)

JOHN PILGER (Journalist, film-maker)

MABEL ENCINAS (Former Coordinator of the Latin American Recognition Campaign, LARC)

MEL GOLBERG (Lawyer, Director of Sport Lawyer Association)

LUIS APARICIO (CEO, Emerging Markets Associates of London, EMA)

y siguen las firmas...

 

 

from British personalities against vulture funds

 

A large cross-party group of British parliamentarians, renowned economists, intellectuals, journalists, public opinion leaders, trade unionists and activists added their names to a statement of “Solidarity with Argentina against vulture funds”, which they handed on to the Embassy of Argentina in London.   

 

Additionally, on June 4, more than one hundred British MPs submitted an Early Day Motion against the actions of these speculators and in favour of Argentina.

 

This solidarity statement condemns the recent United States Supreme Court decision to reject Argentina’s appeal in its case against vulture funds; warns of the danger that this ruling entails for future debt restructuring and calls on the relevant international regulatory bodies to reject the Court’s decision and begin work to create a fair, independent and transparent arbitration mechanism for sovereign debt.

 

The complete text of the statement can be found below.

 

Solidarity with Argentina against vulture funds

 

We, the undersigned, condemn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 16 June 2014 decision to reject Argentina’s appeal in its case against vulture funds. Such funds buy up devalued debt at rock-bottom prices from the original creditors and then pursue repayment through legal means where even a tiny success rate can bring them considerable gains on their small initial ‘investments’. 

 

Earlier lower court rulings in favour of the vulture funds had already elicited criticism from many sources. More than 100 British MPs expressed their concern that “vulture funds are preventing the fair implementation of debt restructuring”. They urged the UK government to share its experience on legislating on vulture funds with the US administration, bring forward legislative proposals to prevent vulture funds ignoring international agreed debt restructuring for Argentina and Greece in UK courts, and supported the creation of “a fair, independent and transparent arbitration mechanism for sovereign debt.”

 

The G 77 plus China Group, a multilateral bloc formed by 133 countries, also states that “We stress the importance of not allowing vulture funds to paralyse the debt-restructuring efforts of developing countries or to deny states the right to protect their peoples under international law.”

 

In upholding the interests of a small minority of rogue speculators, the Supreme Court has endangered the orderly repayment of Argentina’s debt to over 90 percent of its creditors who accepted a substantial write-off of their debt in the wake of the country’s sovereign default over a decade ago.

 

The verdict has rejected any notion of creditor responsibility of bad debt and therefore any onus on creditors’ part to renegotiate it.

 

If the verdict forces another Argentine default, it will undo years of government effort to re-enter capital markets as a borrower in good standing.

 

Finally, the Supreme Court claims to have acted in the interests of preserving New York’s status as a major capital market. However, the effect may well be the opposite, driving away borrowers to more orderly markets.  

 

This decision poses a serious threat not only to Argentina and its people, but to all developing and developed countries.

 

We join this international body of opinion in calling on relevant regulatory bodies to reject the court’s decision and begin work to create a fair, independent and transparent arbitration mechanism for sovereign debt.