Argentina Holdouts Make Fun

Light New Year’s relief to hostile markets, skimpy bonuses and investment bank layoffs comes in the form of an animated cartoon produced by American Task Force Argentina (ATFA), the holdout bondholder lobby group. Set to a musical mix of seventies TV soundtrack, 80s videogame effects and theatrical melodrama, “Hugo’s Deal or No Deal” is a lighthearted look at last year’s Argentine cash-in-suitcase saga. The animated short, full of grotesque caricatures, closes with the newspaper headline: “Christina Wins Election With A Little Help From Her Friends.” Six years on from the $100bn sovereign default, it’s not clear what AFTA, supported by large investors like GMO and hedge funds like Greylock and Elliott, can hope to salvage. It has delivered thousands of letters, made YouTube protests and even driven a truck around New York advising the administration to get some respect and pay its debt. But Christina appears unlikely to deal with holdouts any time soon. Nonetheless, AFTA says the animated short is the first in a series “highlighting economic challenges in Argentina.” Watch out for more entertainment coming your way.