Cristina to charge against IMF in G-20 Summit

By Carlos Burgueño

President Cristina de Kirchner yesterday decided to attend the Group of 20 Summit to be held in Seoul, South Korea, on November 11-12, in a move to continue a tradition inherited from the her husband and predecessor Néstor Kirchner: charge against the International Monetary Fund.

Along with other key agenda items, the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors will debate certain reforms to be made in the intergovernmental organization led by Dominique Strauss-Kahn. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will seek to repeat the Kirchnerite economic dogma implemented since 2005

Summit attendees

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner also seeks to attend the meeting in case the International Monetary Fund attempts to impose sanctions to Argentina for failing to comply with the Article IV consultations.

US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Primer Minister Silvio Berlusconi, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy; Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and Spanish Primer Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero are to attend the G20 Seoul summit. According to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, topics such as "the IMF reform, the currency war, along with the global financial safety and the performance of the poor nations in the global economic crisis are part of the official agenda."

From the beginning, Cristina de Kirchner told her foreign policy advisors that the next G20 Summit is the most important international meeting since the 2008 global financial crisis. According to President Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina shouldn't go unnoticed; especially considering the G-20 group is to debate IMF reform.

According to sources in Washington, sanctions could be eventually imposed on Argentina if the administration of Fernández de Kircher failed to comply with the Article IV consultations.

Néstor and Cristina Kirchner barred the IMF from conducting its annual Article IV revision in the country since 2006. Economy Minister Amado Boudou confirmed the official strategy during the IMF summit held in Washington last October. Following this meeting, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky and IMF's Western Hemisphere Department head Nicolas Eyzaguirre unveiled an official report urging member countries to comply with the Article IV consultations.

During the press conference following the presentation of the IMF's report, John Lipsky told reporters that the intergovernmental organization could impose sanctions on Argentina, Venezuela and Somalia if they failed to comply with the Article IV consultations. Lipsky added those alleged sanctions would be announced during the next IMF summit to be held in April 2011.

According to government officials, this issue won't be debated in the imminent Group of 20 Summit, but the situation might worsen in April. Thus, President Cristina Fernández and advisors have started outlining a solid official defense plan, along with new demands related to IMF's reforms.

The presidential tour to Asia originally included an official visit to Hanoi and Saigon. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was scheduled to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who visited Argentina last April. Cristina Fernández de Kichner is to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday. She would return to Argentina two days later. 



Translated by Jimena Gibert