Argentina-Debt Trap/US/Analysis

Shotlist

FILE: Buenos Aires, Argentina – 2022 (CGTN – No access Chinese mainland)
1. National flag of Argentina in front of presidential palace
2. Various of pedestrians

Buenos Aires, Argentina – July 8, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Marcelo Rodriguez, Argentine sociologist; professor, National University of Avellaneda (UNDAV) (partially overlaid with shots 4-5):
“Multiple countries from Latin America have been the victim to the debt traps for decades and the U.S. is the one most responsible for it. This is part of the U.S. plan to manipulate and exert its influence in the Latin American region. These financial mechanisms have constrained the ability of Latin American countries to repay the debts, which is conducive for the U.S. to implement policies that can benefit its own capitals.”
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FILE: Washington D.C., USA – May 12, 2020 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
4. White House, U.S. national flag

FILE: Washington D.C., USA – Date Unknown (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of U.S. national flag, Capitol Hill
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++

FILE: Havana, Cuba – March 3, 2018 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of National Capitol building, national flag of Cuba

FILE: Caracas, Venezuela – Jan 5, 2021 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
7. Exterior of National Assembly building

Managua, Nicaragua – Recent (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of Nicaraguan national flag

FILE: Lima, Peru – Dec 22, 2017 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
9. Government Palace

FILE: Bogota, Colombia – Feb 7, 2020 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
10. National flag of Colombia
11. Cityscape

FILE: Buenos Aires, Argentina – June 5, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
12. Plaza de Mayo

Buenos Aires, Argentina – July 8, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Marcelo Rodriguez, Argentine sociologist; professor, National University of Avellaneda (UNDAV) (partially overlaid with shots 14-15):
“From the perspective of geopolitics, the U.S. still wants to maintain a ‘unipolar world’ as well as its central position on the global stage, which has reinforced the idea of the U.S. interfering in and exerting pressure on Latin American countries. The debt relationship that has lasted for decades between the U.S. and Latin America features incessant defaults and repayments. All these are a major leverage for the U.S. to assert its supremacy in the region.”
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
FILE: Buenos Aires, Argentina – June 5, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
14. Cabildo de Buenos Aires (Cabildo of Buenos Aires)
15. Various of buildings, national flags of Argentina
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FILE: Buenos Aires, Argentina – May 10, 2021 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
16. Various of pedestrians, empty restaurant, closed shops

FILE: Montevideo, Uruguay – March 2, 2020 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
17. Various of traffic

Storyline

The United States has been using debt crisis as a leverage to maintain its supremacy in Latin America, said Argentine sociologist Marcelo Rodriguez.

Speaking to China Central Television (CCTV) in an interview, Rordiguez, also a professor from the National University of Avellaneda (UNDAV), slammed the U.S. for paving its path to economic hegemony by means of precipitating debt crisis in the region.

Latin American countries, including Brazil and Argentina, have frequently been referred to as victims of the debt inflicted by its neighbor.

In the 1970s, many countries in the region borrowed from a large group of creditors led by U.S. commercial banks with near-zero real rates of interest.

Years later, however, the United States tightened its monetary policies, and the debtors soon found their burdens unsustainable.

In the wake of the financial crisis in the 1980s, which has led to the currency devaluation in many Latin American countries, the U.S. capitals took the chance to start “bargain hunting” of high-quality assets from industries including communication and energy, to further constrain the credit capacity of these countries.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has used U.S. dollar hegemony to harvest the Latin American countries by raising interest rates and printing money, which further worsened the economic downturn in many countries.

As a result, Latin American countries were forced to use the new loan to pay off the old, and have fallen victim to such debt trap that they cannot get themselves out until now.

“Multiple countries from Latin America have been the victim to the debt traps for decades and the U.S. is the one most responsible for it. This is part of the U.S. plan to manipulate and exert its influence in the Latin American region. These financial mechanisms have constrained the ability of Latin American countries to repay the debts, which is conducive for the U.S. to implement policies that can benefit its own capitals,” said Rordiguez.

He pointed out that the United States is obsessed with its illusion of a “unipolar world”, trying to maintain its hegemony in the region by creating a “debt trap” for Latin America.

“From the perspective of geopolitics, the U.S. still wants to maintain a ‘unipolar world’ as well as its central position on the global stage, which has reinforced the idea of the U.S. interfering in and exerting pressure on Latin American countries. The debt relationship that has lasted for decades between the U.S. and Latin America features incessant defaults and repayments. All these are a major leverage for the U.S. to assert its supremacy in the region,” said the sociologist.