Argentina nationalizes its pension fund and its biggest airline

not to be outdone by george bush, argentina announced two major nationalizations in the past week, altho' argentina, unlike the u.s., doesn't shy away from calling them "nationalizations" rather than characterizing them as "taking an ownership stake," the propaganda spin served up by the white house...

first the pension story...

Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on Tuesday (Oct 21) announced
The measure would force the country's 10 AFJPs to transfer the 94.4bn pesos (US$29.3bn) in assets they held as of end-September to social security agency ANSES.

Speaking before an audience at the ANSES headquarters on Tuesday afternoon, Fernández said the measure was a "strategic decision" taken to preserve Argentine retirees' savings. The new system will be called SIPA (Sistema Integrado Previsional Argentino).

On Monday, local daily Clarín broke the news, citing a document from ANSES that said recent losses in AFJP funds prompted by market volatility are evidence the system is "conceptually inadequate".

then the airline...

Argentina's government has decided to seize the country's biggest airline, Aerolineas Argentinas, because talks with the current owners over a price have broken down, a local newspaper reported.

Private Spanish travel group Marsans agreed in July to sell faltering Aerolineas Argentinas and its Austral unit to the government.

The two companies employ some 9,000 workers and operate about 80 percent of domestic flights. They also have debt worth an estimated USD$890 million.

Newspaper La Nacion said the government would soon announce its decision to expropriate the airlines, citing sources in the government, trade unions and the company.

"The agreement with Marsans got exhausted with time," an unnamed government official was quoted as saying.

just another example of the ripple effect of the collapse of the global financial markets...

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