In 1902, after Venezuela defaulted on its sovereign debt, German, British and Italian gunboats blockaded the country's ports until the government paid up. In 1881, after the Ottoman empire failed to honour its obligations, European powers simply seized Ottoman customs houses and helped themselves to their due. The options available to more than 500,000 aggrieved creditors of the Republic of Argentina, which defaulted on bonds worth $81 billion in December 2001, were more limited. After much bluff and bluster, a large majority of them meekly surrendered their claims before a deadline on February 25th, in exchange for new bonds worth roughly 35 cents on the dollar.
展开▼
