2014 Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's speech at UN
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner at the UN General Assembly
DateSeptember 24, 2014 (2014-09-24)
LocationUnited Nations
ParticipantsCristina Fernández de Kirchner

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, president of Argentina, spoke to the UN general assembly on 24 September 2014.[1] Her speech included a variety of issues. She began with the economical issues of the world and Argentina and presented solutions for the economical problems. She criticized vulture funds and called them "economic terrorists", accusing them of destabilizing countries economy. She also pointed to the terrorist attacks occurred in Argentina and said that Argentina's memorandum negotiation with Iran with the aim of investigating the causes of attack turned Jewish institutions against Argentina. Fernández de Kirchner called on the Assembly to recognize Palestine as a State, a full Member of the Assembly.

The Speech faced some reactions from opposition politicians and Jewish leaders. It was also claimed that parts of her the speech criticizing US international policies was censored by media.[2][3][4]

Content

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According to the UN News Center, Cristina Fernández, said to the UN general assembly that her country had experienced a massive economic and financial crisis when it was forced to default on its sovereign debt in 2001. Contributing to that collapse were the terms that had been forced upon Argentina by its creditors. But there was some good news to report, said the Argentine President. She claimed that current problems of the world is due to a lack of democratic multilateralism.[1]

She said that her country had restructured its $193 billion debt had been restructured which enabled the country to pay its debt such that of International Monetary Fund (IMF). Cristina Kirchner claimed that they had the best growth in Latin America and the lowest debt loads in the world.[1]

Argentina president criticized the vulture funds and called them "economic terrorist" for destabilizing countries economy.[5][6][unreliable source?][7] Ms. Fernández said there were still “vulture funds” destabilizing the region, amounting to economic terrorism by creating poverty and hunger through the sin of speculation.[1]

She pointed to the political terrorism such as the 1992 attack on Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and said that her country had investigated the causes of the incident by seeking to bring the perpetrators to justice. The accused Iranian citizens were enabled to make statements in Argentina's courts through a negotiated memorandum with Iran, she added.[1] Cristina Fernandez said that after the negotiations with Iran the Jewish institutions that always supported her country turned against it. "When we signed the agreement [of cooperation with Iran] it seemed that the internal and external demons were unleashed", she said. According to the Israel Nation news, Fernandez blasted Jewish community leaders for their unwillingness to let Iran participate in the probe into the incident.[8]

According to the UN News Center, President Fernández called on the Assembly to recognize Palestine as a State, a full Member of the Assembly. "Israel must also be secure within its borders", she added. She criticized the Security Council reform and said that the problems will not be resolved as long as the votes of the five Permanent Members are counted more than those of others and suggested to have the General Assembly, where each Member had one vote, as the sovereign body of the Organization. She also asked: "Who was arming the “bad guys? and where did ISIS come from?"[1] Cristina Kirchner also claimed that she received a threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist group, because of her friendship with Pope Francis and her support for the existence of Palestinian and Israeli states.[9] She also said that the Argentine judiciary was investigating it. However, the Clarín newspaper could not find details about the case, or which court, prosecutor or judge was working with it.[9]

Reactions

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Some days later, Cristina Kirchner gave a speech in Buenos Aires, and denounced a conspiracy of local bankers and businessmen with foreign aid to overthrow her. She also dismissed the threat from ISIS and claimed instead that the US would be attempting to kill her, saying that “If something should happen to me, don’t look to the Middle East, look to the North”. Elisa Carrió said that Kirchner was “completely out of touch with reality” and that she was making up conspiracy theories.[10]

In her speech she criticized the Argentine Jewish leaders as they had not respected the pact with Iran in order to jointly investigate the 1994 AMIA bombing attack.[11] Julio Schlosser, president of the DAIA, considered that Kirchner was trying to "turn the victims into victimizers", and criticized that she did not make any complaints to Iran.[12]

The administration of Barack Obama made no comments at all about the speech. The Argentina–United States relations are in a poor state, and the United States does not include Argentina in its international agenda.[13]

Censorship

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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's speech was banned from from live broadcast because of her criticize against US international policy, based on The news wire.[14] According to Press TV, parts of her speech criticizing the US international policies were censored by media.[2] Stephen Lendman in The Sleuth Journal wrote that Fernández's speech criticizing US-led western policies was censored by the media. She challenged US for waging war. “Where do ISIS and Al Qaeda (get) their guns from ... Yesterday’s freedom fighters are today’s terrorists,” she said.[3]

Through her Twitter account, Cristina Fernández criticized the way her speech was covered in the papers, specifically a passage that mentioned that Barack Obama may not be wearing the headphones to hear the translation. She said that she'd better send the video to prove what Clarin wrote was not true. "How incredible, the stupid things that you have to clarify. Not for me but for Obama. Or did they think he was looking at me because I was pretty? How much mediocrity! My God! They are just puppets in a theater they will never understand," she added, according to Télam.[4] Carlos Pagni, from La Nación, dismissed the controversy as absurd.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Staff writers. "Leaders from Latin America, Caribbean region urge action to erase inequality, spur development". UN news center. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b Staff writers (29 September 2014). "Media censor Argentina president's remarks at UN".
  3. ^ a b Lendman, Stephan (9 October 2014). "Argentina's Christina Fernandez de Kirchner's UN Address". The Sleuth Journal. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Cristina challenged the way some newspapers covered her U.N. speeches". Télam. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  5. ^ "Cristina characterized the vulture funds as "terrorists" and accused them of destabilization". Fact Check: Argentina. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  6. ^ Todhunter, Colin. "War and Economic Terrorism: Diverging Voices. David Cameron vs. Cristina Fernandez". Global Research.
  7. ^ "Cristina Fernandez Calls the Vulture Funds 'Economic Terrorists'". telesurtv. 24 September 2014.
  8. ^ Ronen, Gil (1 October 2014). "Argentina's President Sees Jewish conspiracy?". Israel Nation News. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  9. ^ a b Ricardo Kirschbaum (September 26, 2014). "¿Amenaza o "nota del color"?" (in Spanish). Clarín. Retrieved October 18, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Goñi, Uki (1 October 2014). "Argentina president claims US plotting to oust her". The guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  11. ^ JTA (29 September 2014). "Jewish leaders in Argentina blast president's UNGA address". Haaretz.
  12. ^ "Para el titular de la DAIA, Cristina intenta convertirlos de "víctimas en victimarios"" (in Spanish). Clarín. September 28, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Silvia Pisani (September 26, 2014). "EE.UU. considera a la Argentina fuera de su agenda y no responde las críticas" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved October 25, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Djuric, Buris (10 October 2014). "Harvard Students Say that the US is a Bigger Threat to World Peace than ISIS". News Wire.
  15. ^ Carlos Pagni (September 29, 2014). "Las indisimulables piruetas de Cristina" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved October 25, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
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