ATFA Runs Wall Street Journal Ad - 'Argentina: Bad Friend, Growing Threat; It's No...

ATFA Runs Wall Street Journal Ad - 'Argentina: Bad Friend, Growing Threat;
It's No Laughing Matter'

WASHINGTON, April 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ATFA ran a full-page color
advertisement in the Wall Street Journal identifying Argentina as a growing
threat to the U.S. and demanding the country to repay its debts and follow the
examples of Latin American countries such as Brazil and Mexico, which are
embracing the global economy and working to join the ranks of developed
nations.

The ad features Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chavez, former Argentine President
Nestor Kirchner and current Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
clenching hands and also details how Argentina presents a growing threat to
the U.S. and its allies:

"Bad Friend: In 2005, Argentina offered to restructure $80 billion in its
defaulted public debt at the worst terms in history, and then repudiated $20
billion of it owed to foreign lenders. Growing Threat: Argentina has drawn
increasingly close to Venezuela's anti-American dictator Hugo Chavez. Nearly
$800,000 in Venezuelan money was smuggled into Argentina, likely for an
illegal campaign contribution to Cristina Kirchner's successful presidential
bid.

"Bad Friend: The Argentine government has deliberately and aggressively
devalued its currency in an effort to maintain a 'competitive currency
exchange rate,' creating an unfair trade advantage for Argentine producers
over American farmers. Growing Threat: Hugo Chavez's state-sponsored support
for terror groups such as The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
has led to congressional calls to designate Venezuela as a state sponsor to
terrorism.

"Bad Friend: Argentine beef has been affected by outbreaks of foot-and-mouth
disease (FMD) in recent years. A proposed USDA plan nevertheless would allow
the importation of Argentine beef, at great cost to U.S. agriculture. Growing
Threat: Argentina's new president, Cristina Kirchner, has voiced a new claim
to the Falkland Islands, stirring up a dormant territorial dispute with U.S.
ally Great Britain that led to war in the 1980's."

To view a copy of the ad, visit http://atfa.org/files/ATFA_Threat_WSJ_12.pdf.

Made up of an alliance of organizations, ATFA's leadership includes its two
co-chairs, the Honorable Robert J. Shapiro, former Under Secretary of Commerce
for Economic Affairs in the Clinton Administration and Ambassador Nancy
Soderberg, Ambassador at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York
from 1997 to 2001. The Executive Director is Mr. Robert Raben, former
Assistant Attorney General during the Clinton administration.

For additional information, please visit our website at http://www.atfa.org,
or contact media@atfa.org, or +1-888-662-2382.

SOURCE American Task Force Argentina

ATFA: 1-888-662-2382, media@atfa.org