More members of Congress speak out on Peru bond default

[TexasTowelie]

Another 11 members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week asking him to confront the Republic of Peru for defaulting on bonds it issued decades ago.

The new round of electeds hails from Texas. The letter is signed by U.S. Reps. Michael Cloud, Henry Cuellar, Vicente Gonzalez, Sheila Jackson Lee, Pete Olson, Chip Roy, Mac Thornberry, Filemón Vela, Randy Weber, Roger Williams and Ron Wright.

In the letter, they say Texas pension portfolios include nearly $84 million in Peruvian Agrarian Reform Bonds. Nationwide, there’s an estimated $2 billion worth of Agrarian Reform Bond investments.

The bonds were issued by Peru’s government between 1969 and 1982 as compensation for 23 million acres of land the country expropriated. In today’s dollars, that real estate would be worth more than $42 billion.

Read more: https://floridapolitics.com/archives/309384-more-members-of-congress-speak-out-on-peru-bond-default

[sandensea]

1. Rethugs have learned to use vulture fund tactics to extort 3rd world countries

Give us our ransom, the thinking goes, or we'll have some bribed local judge (usually GOP-appointed) to block payment to all your bondholders and thus force you into a technical default.

Worked with Argentina: Paul Singer (a major GOP bundler and probable drug money launderer) got an 1,180% payout that way - on defaulted bonds he bought on the black market.

The solution: move all sovereign bond issuances out of the U.S. market until Congress passes a law banning vulture fund lawsuits. The U.K. already has - and they're taking a greater share of the sovereign bond market as a result.