Relations between Argentina and the United States are “in a tough period right now,” US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson said yesterday.
Her comments came only days after President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner sent implicit criticism of US anti-terrorism policy and called the US judicial system complicit in “attacks” by the vulture funds. And almost two weeks after a meeting called last week by Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman with the US Chargé d’Affaires in Buenos Aires — Kevin Sullivan — for what the Argentine government considered to be improper meddling in Argentine domestic affairs.
Sullivan was quoted by Clarín saying that “it is important that Argentina get out of default,” at a time when the government strenuously denies that the government entered into default over the holdout saga and Timerman threatened to declare him a persona non grata should there be continued “intrusion.”
Jacobson refused to comment on the ongoing litigation involving holdout funds and the Argentine state, saying that matter was “an issue for the courts to decide and it should not be one that should be affecting the bilateral relationship.” She also added that she did not think that the matter was one “between governments.” The State Department has, however, filed amicus curiae briefs in favour of Argentina as the matter made its way through the US judicial system.
The assistant secretary of state yesterday made sure to stay clear of any mentions of a default, saying that in Washington “we are hoping that it can be resolved in a way that Argentina can return to the international financial community, that Argentina can begin to grow and be productive again.”
In parallel to the ongoing holdout case, Jacobson cited energy, non-proliferation and combating terrorism as avenues for continued cooperation between the two countries. During her address to a Security Council meeting chaired by US President Barack Obama specifically addressing terrorism, Fernández de Kirchner urged a re-think on the methodology used to combat terrorism, saying that “logic states that if I had observed a certain methodology to combat a problem and that problem, instead of disappearing or diminishing increases and worsens, at least I have to revise that methodology and the methods that I am using because something isn’t going right.”
— Herald staff