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News > Venezuela

Venezuela's Creditors Dismiss Guaido’s Debt Restructuring Plan

  • In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) informed that the majority of the organization’s executive committee members don't recognize Guaido’s

    In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) informed that the majority of the organization’s executive committee members don't recognize Guaido’s "presidency." | Photo: Reuters

Published 9 July 2019
Opinion

The defaulted debts are a result of economic warfare on Venezuela, as President Maduro has already tried to fulfill the country’s financial obligations. 

International creditors holding Venezuelan debt pushed back on Juan Guaido’s restructuring plans Tuesday, adding to a series of ongoing national and international setbacks for the opposition lawmaker. 

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Venezuela Reveals Evidence of Widespread Juan Guaido-led Corruption

Urging for a different “framework for talks and improved communications” investors holding defaulted bonds seemed to have jumped out of Guaido’s ship and now are instead hoping to fight a United States' executive order that would prevent asset seizures by investors, which would mean taking over the refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp.

Since gaining notoriety by unconstitutionally self-proclaiming “interim” president of Venezuela in a city square on Jan. 23, Guaido’s short-lived political career continues its downward spiral. 

In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) informed that the majority of the organization’s executive committee members have failed to recognize Guaido’s claims.

And even though the majority of world leaders, including Russia and China, have not recognized Guaido’s "leadership," the U.S. and its regional allies, especially the right-wing "Lima Group," continue to do so. 

But backing Guaido is becoming harder even to those “lackey” governments, as President Nicolas Maduro has referred to in many occasions, especially as corruption scandals have him as the main culprit of large scale operation regarding misuse of aid funds for Venezuelans in Colombia. 

Meanwhile, the main committee of Venezuela creditors has decided to wait out the situation, instead of dealing with Guaido’s plan. 

RELATED:
Timeline of Half a Decade of US Economic War Against Venezuela

The defaulted debts are a result of economic warfare on Venezuela, as President Maduro has already tried to fulfill the country’s financial obligations. 

In 2016, in order to partially restructure and reschedule its debt amortizations, the Venezuelan government made an offer to exchange US$7.1 billion in PDVSA bonds. 

However, the U.S.-based risk rating agencies threatened investors by declaring a default if they agree to the Venezuelan proposal. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. issued a false default alert about an alleged US$404 million PDVSA debt default. 

In 2017, the U.S. Executive Order 13808 prohibited all transactions aimed at financing Venezuela, banned direct or indirect purchases of Venezuelan government securities, which included bonds, loans, credit extensions, loan guarantees, credit letters, drafts, bankers acceptance, invoices or discount notes and commercial papers.

A year later, in 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump also prohibited debt restructuring in favor of Citgo Petroleum, the PDVSA's U.S. subsidiary company, and prevented the repatriation of the company's dividends.

As sanctions have increased in number and intensity, the Venezuelan government has denounced that about as much as US$30 billion of Venezuela’s assets have been frozen in foreign accounts, preventing any sort of use of those funds. 

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