BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's country risk rose slightly on Wednesday, the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus showed, after the government said it planned to pay its foreign-currency bonds locally to skirt a U.S. court ruling that prevented the government from servicing its debt. The South American country's risk climbed 1.4 percent to 779 basis points over safe-haven U.S. Treasuries on JP Morgan's index <11EMJ>. The index as a whole stood at 297 as of 9:59 a.m. local time (0859 EDT). Tough-talking Argentine President Cristina Fernandez unveiled legislation late Tuesday that would also seek to push bondholders to swap debt held under foreign legislation for new notes governed by Argentine law. (Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)