US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US would not back Argentina on holdouts (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
United States won’t back Government on Holdouts: US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has rejected the possibility that the US government would side with Argentina in the dispute over the holdouts on 2001-2 debt payments. Responding a Republican congressman’s question over whether the State Department would take a stance in favour of Argentina if the court required an opinion, he said “No, we wouldn’t”, going on to say that the US would continue pressuring Argentina to pay its creditors, both the public and private ones. He made particular reference to the US$600m that Argentina owes the US State – part of the US$9bn Paris Club debt – saying: “I’ll do everything in my power to get it back, as will the State Department.” The response comes as a blow to Argentina’s government, who had speculated that the Obama administration’s official position would back Argentina, with even Foreign Minister Héctor Timmerman have publicly mooted US backing.
Pope Francis Celebrates 1st Anniversary: Today marked the one year since the Vatican nominated Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires to be the 266th pope, who took the name Pope Francis. The leader of the Catholic Church marked the day by tweeting “Pray for me”, a phrase he used when making his first appearance as pontiff, on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica a year ago, and one he often used as the end of discourses when in Argentina. Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich said that today “is a very important day for Argentina”, speaking of a “revolution of being“, and of the transformation of “spiritual leadership of Catholics and non-Catholics in the world”, highlighting that Pope Francis is the first Argentine and Latin American pope. In celebration of the anniversary, Buenos Aires metropolitan cathedral will hold a special mass today at 8pm, presided over by his successor, Cardinal Mario Poli.
Head of YPF Talks of Energy Revolution: Head of YPF, Miguel Galuccio, today said that Argentina has the energy reserves to not only recuperate energy supply, but to also undergo an “energy revolution”. He said that the country must decide if it wants to be “energy independent or dependent”, highlighting the recently discovered oil reserves, and also the country’s vast gas fields. He went on to highlight that since the government expropriated the company from Spanish oil giant Repsol in April 2012, investment has risen 130% and net profit 45%. The announcement comes at a time when other countries in Latin America are beginning to invest more in renewable energy, something that has dropped dramatically in Argentina – falling from US$500m to US$90m between 2012 and 2013 – since the discovery of more oil and gas reserves over the past couple of years.