In Case You Missed It: Last week, 14 Argentine and 1 Uruguayan pensioners -- many of whom had lost their life savings after investing in Argentine bonds -- traveled to New York and Washington to dema

In Case You Missed It: Last week, 14 Argentine and 1 Uruguayan pensioners -- many of whom had lost their life savings after investing in Argentine bonds -- traveled to New York and Washington to demand that their government honor its obligations and fairly repay holdout creditors like themselves. American Task Force Argentina held a press conference in New York City featuring the holdouts and co-hosted a Capitol Hill briefing with Freedom House on the erosion of civil liberties in Argentina. Below is a sampling of the coverage from both events.                                                       The Financial Times Argentine pensioners: we are not vultures! By Jude Webber January 29, 2013 Eva Geller' parents, Holocaust survivors from Germany and Austria, always taught her that two things were important in life: education and savings. "Every penny I got from my grandparents, I put in my piggy bank. I saved all my life," said Geller, who was born in Uruguay where her parents moved after the war. Having been advised that Argentina was a "very strong government with a very firm government" Geller not only poured her life savings into Argentine bonds, but also advised her Austrian mother, now 90, to buy them too. The rest is history. READ MORE Reuters Holdout creditors on New York trip bemoan treatment by Argentina January 29, 2013 A group of Argentine investors who refused to take part in their country's debt restructurings spoke in New York on Tuesday about how they feel betrayed and mistreated by their government, which is fighting U.S. court orders to pay the holdouts. Argentina defaulted on $100 billion of foreign debt in 2002, and holdout creditors have won several billion dollars worth of judgments in U.S. courts but have collected almost nothing due to sovereign immunity laws. READ MORE The Daily Caller  Argentinian creditors gather in New York to demand payment By Betsi Fores January 29, 2013 More than a dozen of Argentina's stiffed creditors will gather in New York on Tuesday to demand payment from a government that has refused payment to holdout bond holders for more than a decade. The conference, organized by American Task Force Argentina, will speak on the upcoming trial in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals that will settle a landmark sovereign debt case against Argentina. READ MORE The Hill Argentine pensioners decry mistreatment by their government By Robert Shapiro January 30, 2013 On Thursday, a private delegation of Argentines will visit the U.S. Capitol to recount to members of Congress their personal experience of living with the Argentine government's refusal to honor its debts for more than a decade. In addition to conducting a series of meetings with Congressional staffers, the pensioners will be part of a Capitol Hill briefing co-hosted by Freedom House and American Task Force Argentina (ATFA) that will explore the erosion of civil liberties in Latin America's second largest economy. READ MORE The Los Angeles Times Numbers racket in Argentina By Joseph B Kadane January 30, 2013 In 2007, the government of Argentina fired Graciela Bevacqua and other statisticians who were collecting its price statistics and inflation estimates. Since that time, large and disturbing — even shocking — discrepancies have developed between the official inflation estimates (roughly 10% a year) and privately generated estimates announced by Bevacqua and others (roughly 25% a year). READ MORE Business Insider Talking About This Data Can Make You A Criminal In Argentina By Linette Lopez January 31, 2013 There is a disconnect between the inflation rate reported by INDEC, Argentina's bureau of statistics, and the numbers reported by independent statisticians. It's a big disconnect — 10% vs. 25% — and more importantly, those who insist upon it face criminal charges, fines of up to $250,000 and 5 years in prison (Think of what they'd do to Nate Silver!). All that is part of why Anonymous hackers took over INDEC's website earlier this month, and it's why tomorrow, the IMF will decide on how (if at all) to punish Argentina for failing to improve its statistical analysis. READ MORE Agence France-Presse Argentine bondholders in US defend their right to collect debt in default January 30, 2013 "I want my money back. I don't want to be a burden for my family," says María Teresa Muñoz, 76 years old and one of the Argentine bondholders who traveled to New York this week to defend their right to collect debt payments defaulted on by their country since 2001. At a time when the case of the speculation funds demanding the payment of these bonds is entering a decisive stage in the US Justice system, some 15 Argentine bondholders who did not enter the 2005 and 2010 swaps were invited by the lobby group American Task Force Argentina (ATFA) to tell their stories in New York. Many of them have already filed lawsuits on their own behalf against the Argentine state and in the United States and obtained favorable rulings that were never executed. Two of those present are part of the current trial led by the risk funds NML Capital and Aurelius Capital in which the federal judge Thomas Griesa ordered Argentina last November to pay 1.33 billion dollars in a ruling which is currently suspended. "For the Argentine authorities, numbers are more important than people. I know lots of people like myself," said Muñoz, one of the two bondholders who used his savings and those of his mother during the '90s to buy Argentine debt papers. Next to him, Horacio Vázquez, an unemployed engineer of 56, married with two children, said that he hoped that this visit to New York would be "the opportunity to show that the problem is neither the banks nor the companies but the people "who refused to accept the swaps because they considered these to be unfair". "Nobody knows how many we are. The government says it doesn't know either," said Vázquez referring to the exact number of creditors who did not enter the swaps, accepted by over 92% of those who had papers, with haircuts of up to 75% over their nominal value. At the press conference, attorney Gary Snitow, from Milberg LLP, said that his practice in New York represents some 400 Argentine bondholders who have already had a ruling from the US court in the region of US$500 million. "I believed in my country. I preferred to buy our bonds. I have a ruling in my favor to recover the money I invested believing in my country," remembered Raul Roveda, a retired chemical engineer of 68, who rejected the swaps because the amounts proposed were "ridiculous". Although some of these bondholders, such as Eva Geller, a 66 year old Uruguayan, refuses to accept a swap or make a distinction between individuals and speculative funds, others such as Pierino Garrafa, a 51 year old Argentine, are less hard line and say they are ready for a negotiation if this is fair. "If there is a reasonable deal, I am ready to look at it as in any operation. A shorter-term bond, less of a haircut , that I would accept," he told AFP, explaining that the funds which Buenos Aires calls "vultures" arose partly in response to the "lack of support that the savers experienced for a long time, which pushed down the market value of the bonds" and forced many to sell. Last Friday, the risk funds rejected before the US court, an Argentine offer to reopen the debt swap and asked for the ruling which orders the country to pay up what is required. Griesa's ruling obliges Argentina to pay these plaintiffs "at the same time, or at least before it pays the restructured bondholders" in 2005 and 2010. Argentina may refute the arguments proposed by the risk funds on February 1 and then on the 27th there will be a key hearing in the presence of all the parties involved in reviewing Griesa´s order. American Task Force Argentina PO Box 3197 Arlington VA 22203-0197