At
UN, Ban's
Argentina
Readout Has No
Good Offices,
Vulture Fund
LOST
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 22 --
On very little
notice,
Argentina's
foreign
minister
Hector
Timerman
appeared on UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
schedule
Monday with a
photo op and
meeting at
12:15 pm.
Afterward,
Inner
City Press
followed the
Argentine
delegation as
it traipsed
from the
meeting with
Ban to the
hall where the
President of
the
General
Assembly's
offices are.
Inner City
Press was told
that Ban
had "offered
his good
offices."
But
the read-out
issues after 5
pm on Monday
does not
mention this:
Date:
Mon, Oct 22,
2012 at 5:57
PM
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
The
Secretary-General
met today with
Foreign
Minister
Timerman. The
Secretary-General
congratulated
Argentina on
its election
to the
Security
Council for
2013-2014 and
thanked
Argentina for
its
steadfast
support for UN
priorities. He
welcomed the
new Permanent
Representative-designate
of Argentina
to the United
Nations,
Ambassador
María
Cristina
Perceval.
The
Secretary-General
and Foreign
Minister
Timerman
discussed the
case of
the Argentine
frigate
Fragata
Libertad in
Ghana. The
Secretary-General
acknowledged
the concern of
the Government
of
Argentina for
the well-being
of its crew
members. The
Secretary-General
expressed the
hope that both
Governments
will find
a way to
address the
matter on a
bilateral
basis, in
accordance
with
international
law, including
the United
Nations
Convention on
the Law
of the Sea, to
which both
Argentina and
Ghana are
parties.
There
was, of
course, more
than could and
should have
been said
here. The
underlying
debt is one
claimed by a
hedge fund --
or vulture
fund --
which bought
up Argentina's
2000 debt and
now seeks to
foreclose.
It
is akin to the
styrofoam cup
magnate, Ken
Dart, who
tried to
foreclose
and set up his
own country.
It is a
travesty of
global
economics,
here reduced
to a Law of
the Sea tiff
between
Argentina and
Ghana.
LOST indeed.
Watch this
site.
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