At UNSC, Argentina's Month Has 7 Stakeouts, Vulture Funds, Mothers of the Disappeared, Dialogue

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 28 -- Argentina's month atop the UN Security Council has three more days to run, with meetings on East Jerusalem and the International Court of Justice, but their mission held their End of Presidency reception on October 28 so we review it.

   First, press openness, reviewed by the new Free UN Coalition for Access. Maria Cristina Perceval held seven stakeouts during the month, on top of the Program of Work press conference reviewed below. By the numbers, it was neither the best nor the worst recent presidency.

  Argentina leaves a mark on the Council's "Working Methods," advocating for more participation by the elected ten members, questioning the veto.

  But what Argentina in particular brought to the table was a human feel, not only talking about the Mothers of the Disappeared and where appropriate the issue of sovereign debt and vulture funds, but also saying to Palestine and Israel, and Ukraine and Russia, we will let you speak, we want dialogue.

   These all came together at 6:30 pm on October 28, when with rights of reply between Russia and Ukraine still ongoing in the Council, Perceval bid adieu to go host her reception. 

  Up in the Delegates' Dining Room, after a video and a talk by a “recovering grand-daughter” of the disappeared and amid the tango, Inner City Press was approached by the workers, saying the Aramark has lost the DDR contract, replaced the workers said by “Culinary” (Arts?). Will they keep on the workers, as the UN's cleaning contractor did, no thanks to the UN but rather to the union? This seems the kind of question Argentina cares about, to their credit.

   Venezuela is coming into the Council in Argentina's place, as Angola will replace Rwanda and New Zealand, Australia. Quiet South Korea will be gone, with Malaysia coming in; Spain will take over for Luxembourg, one of the champions of the stakeout. Speaking of the stakeout, the Internet has been dead there for two days, as the UN seems to want Council coverage to die. But not only Inner City Press but also the Free UN Coalition for Access will oppose it, unlike the UN's Censorship Alliance.

 Back on October 2 when Argentina took over the UN Security Council's Presidency, the closed-door consultations on the program of work went longer than usual. Inner City Press learned from sources in the meeting that the hang-up was Ebola, specifically whether the issue and new UNMEER mission are on the agenda of the Council for a briefing.

  When Argentine Permanent Representative Maria Cristina Percevalcame to take questions on the month's Council schedule, Inner City Press first asked her on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access to hold many Q&A stakeouts, then asked about Syria as well as the Ebola debate. Video here and embedded below.

  On Syria, Inner City Press asked if she anticipates there being a vote in the Security Council about the airstrikes in Syria by the US and (so far) five Arab countries. She replied that the program of work has Syria meetings on chemical weapons and on humanitarian access but the airstrikes are not included. Not yet?

  On Ebola, Perceval confirmed that the debate behind closed doors had been about the issue; she recounted that since there are already UN Peacekeeping (and political) missions in the Ebola hot zone, the Council has some jurisdiction. She said to give her time to find a solution. Guess: Arria formula meeting?

Argentina, given its stand-off with hedge / “vulture” funds, has been raising the issue of sovereign debt in every UN forum possible. Why not in the Security Council? Especially if the Ebola mission gets in there? Watch this site.

Footnote: Before replying to Inner City Press, Perceval said as an aside that “our friend is at the Security Council before many of us, and afterward too” and therefore has precise questions. The reality is that covering the Security Council has been made more difficult, with no fightback and sometimes collusion by the old UN Correspondents Association. 

   More on HuffPost Live, here.

  Those are some of the reasons Inner City Press quit and opposes UNCA, calling it the UN's Censorship Alliance, and co-founded theFree UN Coalition for Access, which pushes for transparency including a Freedom of Information Act covering the UN, and protection of the right to investigative journalism. FUNCA is looking forward to Argentina's month atop the Council.

   

On Sovereign Debt and Argentina, Inner City Press Asks IMF of UN General Assembly Vote, Lack of Quota Reform, Of Kazakh Bonds & Grenada Litigation

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 6 -- With the dispute between Argentina and hedge or vulture funds more and more discussed, the International Monetary Fund on October 6 released a paper and held an embargoed press call on the topic of "Strengthening the Contractual Framework to Address Collective Action Problems in Sovereign Debt Restructuring."

  Inner City Press asked the IMF's Sean Hagan, General Counsel and Director of the IMF's Legal Department, how his "market based" approach relates to the vote take last month in the UN General Assembly and to respond to the critique that the lack of quota reform at the IMF undermines the legitimacy of its approach.

   Hagan said the UNGA's approach is "treaty based," and that "there was insufficient support in our members to support that approach, there has been in no change in the attitude of our members when we discussed this last year.”

  But in essence the membership of the IMF is the same as the UN General Assembly -- it's just that in the IMF votes are weighed to wealth, measured in the past. The UN is controlled by five permanently veto-wielding Security Council members. At the IMF for now there is one veto: the US.

  Hagan made much of Kazakhstan including some of the IMF supported language in its most recent bond issuance. He mentioned copycat litigation, already pending in Grenada. He said it seems the issue will be discussed at the upcoming IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in a session involving "civil society organizations." We'll have more on this.

 For now, the IMF on October 6 said "Directors acknowledged that the recent New York court decisions with respect to Argentina may exacerbate collective action problems, although most felt that the extent of their impact on the restructuring process is still unclear. Directors welcomed the recent modification of pari passu clauses in certain sovereign bond issuances to explicitly exclude the obligation to effect ratable payments."

 So beyond the cited Kakastan, how prevalent is this?

 The IMF also on October 6 discussed "the inclusion of an enhanced collective action clause (CAC) that includes a more robust 'aggregation' feature to address collective action problems more effectively."

  Back on September 11, two days after 124 nations in the UN General Assembly voted to start a process on sovereign debt restructuring, Inner City Press asked the International Monetary Fund, "What is the IMF's comment on the “sovereign debt restructuring” resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 9? The resolution cites the IMF's work on the issues, in 2003."

  At the IMF's embargoed briefing that day, IMF spokesperson William Murray provided a long answer, including that the IMF is working on a "market based" solution, particularly on debt contractual terms to prevent "hold out" problems. He mentioned, as he had to, Argentina, which has had it own contentious relation with the IMF.

  Clearly, Argentina -- and Bolivia as chair of the Group of 77 -- were aware of these IMF efforts when they pursued the issue in the UN General Assembly. But it's a power game.

When Argentina's foreign minister Héctor Timerman held a press conference at the UN at 5:30 pm on September 9, he was flanked not only by Argentina's ambassador to the UN Maria Cristina Perceval but also the chair of the Group of 77, Sacha Llorenti of Bolivia.

  They spoke of 11 countries opposing their resolution on sovereign debt and vultures funds, or sovereign debt restructuring, including the United States. Timerman took the high road, saying that Argentina would present a project with the G77 and speak with all opponents.

  He asked how the UN General Assembly, which he called the most democratic forum, could be involved in so many fields but not this one. Why indeed.

   Back in June, Inner City Press thanked Timerman and his finance minister Axel Kicillof on behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access, then asked if Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital hold stakes in other G77 members, and if the case shows the need for reform, that countries should have at least the same debt restructuring rights as corporations.

  Kicillof added, states and the people (pueblos) they represented. He said that in the G77 meeting, Peru had spoken. An attentive Inner City Press reader chimed in with a question about Ecuador, which sold bonds just this week.

  But in that case, new language tried to avoid the Argentina decision of the US Supreme Court, just as Belize and Armenia have also done on their debt. Watch this site.

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