Saturday, March 12, 2016

'We want to put an end to the foreign debt, but we won't kneel down'

Héctor Recalde heads the Victory Front (FpV) caucus in the Lower House.

Head of the Victory Front (FpV) caucus in the Lower House Héctor Recalde said the government will probably rally enough support to discuss the bill that seeks to secure an agreement with so called “vulture” funds on the floor, but warned the approval of the project is not yet guaranteed.

“We will put effort, knowledge and convictions to not have the bill passed, because the negotiation is very bad. Some sectors had opposed to it and now they changed their position,” Recalde said.

In statements to the C5N news channel, the lawmaker today said the administration of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner also sought an agreement to end the long-standing dispute with creditors that did not accept the 2005 and 2010 debt restructurings but “without kneeling down.”

“In the previous government, we were willing to agree but without kneeling down. The government goes into debt but it is the people that pay. We want to end with the foreign debt but standing, not on our knees,” he affirmed and highlighted the government-sponsored accord with hedge funds will account for 20 billion dollars.

“The Argentine history shows what happens. We will pay 230 million dollars to the vulture funds’ lawyers without having a judge deciding it. We will even pay more than what we paid to some small group of creditors,” Recalde insisted.

“We want the people to pronounce if they agree or not. If (the government) gets quorum, we will debate but the negotiation must be fair and equitable."