Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Argentina to “selective default” for failing to make an interest payment in the amount of $539 million on $13 billion of restructured debt.

Mediators in the case say Argentina has defaulted on its debt; Argentina’s Economy Minister says the country has not. This echoes a statement made recently by the country’s president that Argentina is not in default because it deposited the $539 million in the Bank of New York Mellon. However, a judge in New York has forbidden financial institutions from making those payments until the hedge funds are paid in full. CCTV’s Karina Huber reports.

Joel Richards reports on how people in Argentina viewed this legal standoff from Buenos Aires.
Follow Joel Richards on Twitter @joel_richards

For more on this topic, CCTV America’s Michelle Makori spoke to Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network in Chicago, and Peter Hakim, president emeritus of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C.