The Liberty has returned! May our liberty return!
We welcome the return to our country of
the frigate Liberty, released by an injunction granted by the
International Law of the Sea Tribunal while it continues deliberation
on the substance of the complaint.
We welcome as well that, faced with the
ship’s embargo and the outrageous decisions of some courts, it has
been possible to strengthen national and international awareness
about the serious consequences that the system of illegitimate
indebtedness still brings for our people and country.
We cannot celebrate, or much less
declare victory, however, when in reality it is the vultures who are
still winning: the vulture funds, vulture banks, vulture financial
institutions, vulture corporations and business elites. Today and
tomorrow, they continue to scavenge off the indebtedness and
submission to the so-called "market dictates" that were
built on the greed of a few, the disappearance of the 30,000, and the
impoverishment, exclusion and exploitation of 30,000,000 more. This
debt is a crime against humanity that continues to claim as its
victims the welfare and rights of the Argentine people. This is not
the time for deceptive celebrations but rather for ensuring a real
NEVER AGAIN.
The debt bonds that trapped the Liberty
in Ghana, put the country at the brink of a technical default in New
York, and continue now to restrict our President´s freedom of
movement and that of all State assets, are illegitimate and illicit.
They were issued under the extortionary weight of the debt
accumulated during the dictatorship and they include unethical and
unconstitutional clauses that purport to waive the sovereign immunity
of the State and cede jurisdiction to courts anywhere in the world.
They provoke damages, costs, and permanent distress for the
sovereignty, dignity, and pockets of the Argentine people.
The present government, however, like
previous governments, persists in its undeniable vocation to pay, and
the impunity of those responsible remains intact. As a result, the
Liberty is returning accompanied by the certain risk of a further
increase in what we all pay for a debt that we do not owe. This was
ratified in the government´s latest presentation to the court of New
York, where it confirmed its willingness to pay the vulture funds and
continue to waive the State´s sovereign immunity and admit the
competence of foreign jurisdictions.
This situation must be reversed, our
sovereignty recovered, and the debt problem addressed with truth and
justice.
It is imperative to end the waiver of
sovereign immunity and the recognition of foreign courts and
arbitration mechanisms which violate the Constitution and the rights
of the Argentine people. Instead of worrying about the future of New
York as a financial center, as it does in its most recent
presentation before the courts of that city, the government should
seize the moment to challenge the jurisdiction of those courts and
denounce the illegitimacy and illegality of the vulture bonds, avoid
any further payment on them, and initiate necessary actions to bring
to justice and initiate claims for reparations from those responsible
for their issuance. The government´s recent decision to rescind the
irregular sale of the Palermo exhibition grounds – to mention only
the latest action of this kind - is a clear demonstration that it is
possible to undo the wrongs imposed. How much more important it is to
take on the challenge of NEVER AGAIN with regard to a debt whose
human, institutional, and fiscal consequences are countless times
greater!
For these reasons we call on the
Argentine Government, the Congress, and the Judicial System, as we
did on October 30 and December 10 accompanied by numerous
organizations nationally and internationally, to end this scourge and
avoid renewed subjugation. We call on them to:
1. Audit outstanding debt claims in a
manner that is public, participatory, and comprehensive, suspending
all payments until its completion;
2. Annul and desist from signing those
contracts, laws, treaties, and agreements which contain
unconstitutional provisions, extortionary conditions, and other
similar clauses;
3. Challenge speculators by denouncing
fraudulent and illegitimate bonds and debt deals;
4. Prosecute and punish those
responsible, whether nationals or foreigners, opening the way for
true reparations.
We call as well, on the people and
organizations of our country, to not cease in the struggle for truth
and justice, to end the system of illegitimate debt, and build
alternatives that ensure our sovereignty, rights, and dignity; so
that as a people and as a country, we might all celebrate the return
of our liberty.
DIALOGUE 2000 - JUBILEE SOUTH ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires, January 9, 2013