LEAD ARTICLES: (translations coming)

LEAD ARTICLES: (translations coming)

 

La Nacion: “A law against the country advances in the Capitol”, by Silvia Pisani

 

Ambito Financiero: “A new vulture attempt in the U.S. Congress” (no byline)

 

El Cronista: “Anti-Argentine law” (no byline)

 

El Cronista: “They have not defeated us,’ celebrates Cristina after ruling against the vulture funds” (no byline)

 

Ambito Financiero: ““To live to pay is a disastrous recipe”” (no byline)

 

Ambito Financiero: “Government confirms there will not be a reopening of the swap until March”(no byline)

 

La Nacion: “A swap would save the country US$900 million”  by Florencia Donovan 

 

Clarin: “The scare of a default set off a principle of realism” by Marcelo Bonelli

 

Clarin: “Cristina finishes an unforgettable November” by Julio Blanck

 

 

DEBT DIGEST:

 

LA NACION:

·         “Strong tension between Argentina and Ghana at the Tribunal of the Sea”, by Martin Dinatale

An overview of the first day of hearings at ITLOS in Hamburg.  Argentina’s side, represented by Ambassador Susana Ruiz Cerruti (Arg ITLOS rep) and attorney Marcelo Kohen, argued the expected lines about immunity, stating that Ghana “created a crisis” by not releasing the Frigate, and demanding it do so immediately.  Ghana, represented by the legal counsel for its Foreign Ministry, Ebenezer Apperku, argued that “this issue is exceptional and not only before this tribunal.”  He said Accra was obliged to become caught up in an issue “whose origin derives from a commercial relationship between a private company and Argentina.”  Sources from the Arg Foreign Ministry say they are optimistic, that Ghana’s arguments were “weak” and that the legal grounds of the Arg position is clear.

·         “Support from UNASUR over the complaint for the ship,” (no byline)

The ministers of Defense of the UNASUR block issued a joint statement on their “solidarity with the brotherly Argentine Republic over the detention of its teaching vessel Libertad, calling on various applicable tribunals to effect its rapid resolution.”

 

EL CRONISTA:

·         “Lorenzino enjoys his five minutes of fame”, by Fernando Gonzalez, News Director

A short column on the “curious history” of Lorenzino as a cabinet minister.  He was chosen for his “moderate profile” and his credentials were “a plan to normalize the debt with the Paris Club and the bondholders that didn’t enter the swap.”  But, however, “he crashed against the dollar clamp and a government that covered its deficit of external revenues with multiple barriers and embraced the era of economic nationalism.”  The result was that Lorenzino was relegated the “silent sector of the government.”  But “his triumphal return came in recent days.  Cristina gave him the responsibility for the strong ruling of Judge Griesa against Argentina and asked for an urgent solution.  Lorenzino returned to his roots and made public the repeatedly denied decision to reopen the debt swap with remiss bondholders.”  The 2^nd Circuit stay “left the minister in a good place.  Now he is enjoying his five minutes of fame.  It’s not a little for a deflated cabinet where its stars are more and more fleeting.”

·         “Frigate: there will be a verdict on December 15” (no byline)

Short piece on the first day of hearings, noting that German Judge Rudiger Wolfrum said that the tribunal will issue a ruling on December 15.

 

AMBITO FINANCIERO:

·         “Markets celebrate halt on Griesa: coupon gains 21%”, by Luis Beldi

A wrap of the huge rally on Argentine market assets in Buenos Aires and global markets in yesterday’s session, following the stay announcement in New York court.

 

 

OTHER NEWS ITEMS:

·         Cristina cancelled her trip to the UNASUR summit in Lima, Peru, at the last minute, with a statement from the Casa Rosada indicating that a doctor’s recommendation to skip the trip came upon the diagnosis of “lower back pain”.  Amado Boudou is being sent in her place.

·         The Catholic bishops of Argentina sent the most critical letter to the President in the last five years, citing their concerns that “at almost 30 years of democracy, the Argentine people are running the risk of being divided again in irreconcilable bands.”  The letter never once mentioned the government directly, but did speak of “feeding differences, continuing to foment confrontation” as a main concern, as well as policy trends toward legalized abortion and state approval of same-sex marriage, restrictions on freedom of expression, the independence of the courts, and “caudillismo”, which La Nacion reports referred to La Campora.  La Nacion reports that the order has come down from Cristina to the cabinet to “ignore the letter”.

·         La Nacion and Clarin report that the IAPA sent a letter to the president of the Argentine Supreme Court, noting its concern about the “advances” by the government in the application of the Media Law while the constitutionality of the law is still unresolved.  El Cronista reports that the Federal Civil and Commercial Court, for its part, sent an “unprecedented statement to the Supreme Court of Justice in which it warns that it sees its independence compromised in acting on the case over the Media Law, in which it has to rule before 7D on prolonging the injunction that shelters Clarin Group from having to divest.”

·         Clarin and La Nacion report that Cristina gave testimony via teleconference to an Italian judge in the lawsuit against two reporters for Corriere della Sera for the June 4, 2008 article on her alleged luxury shopping trip in Rome before the FAO meeting that year.  She testified that she arrived in the city on June 2 of that year and made no shopping visits, while the article claimed she arrived on May 31 and did.  “It’s not bad when a reporter says, ‘I made a mistake’, period, end of story,” Cristina told the judge during her testimony, then noting that the newspaper never retracted the story as she demanded, but simply reported her spokesman’s denial and left it at that.   “It was written with real malice.  I believe strongly in the freedom of opinion, but not in defamation,” she said.

 

 

JORGE ARGUELLO on Twitter and Blog:

·         Only one tweet in the last 24 hours, about the UN’s granting of state-observer status in the General Assembly.

 

TRENDING TOPICS/ARGENTINA on Twitter:

·         No political topics in the top 10 this morning.  (Friday tends to focus on the weekend and recreation.)