Ten Years After the Olmos Judicial Ruling on the Illegitimacy of the Debt: Audit or Keep Paying?
Ten years ago today, July 13, 2000, Argentine Federal Judge Jorge Ballestero ruled on the illegality, illicitness, and fraud of the public debt contracted by the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983, in the case to which journalist Alejandro Olmos devoted the last 18 years of his life. This ruling condemned the illicit maneouvers and crimes commited in the process of indebting Argentina and it was remitted to the National Congress for its respective treatment according to Constitutional mandate. Despite the time that has passed and sustained efforts both inside and outside Congress, today it is again necessary to denounce that Argentine legislators continue to ignore their mandate and the government continues to pay a debt whose illicitness and illegitimacy have been judicially established. It is not too late to reverse this state of affairs and to secure justice. It is urgent furthermore, that the wealth that is produced by the labor of the Argentine people, together wi...