The groups in control of Venezuela’s foreign assets are to present a proposal to the country’s congress this week to extend the validity of billions of dollars in defaulting debts, according to the head of one of the monitoring boards.
After the United States imposed sanctions aimed at removing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the country’s elected opposition-led National Assembly issued an order in 2019 creating supervisory boards to examine Venezuela’s foreign assets. The Congress is the only one recognized internationally and has been given the ability by the United States to negotiate any external debt payments.
The bondholder proposal, which would allow for payment talks and debt restructuring efforts, would be similar to a plan submitted in March by the Venezuelan government and state oil giant PDVSA.
According to a source participating in the negotiations, if the plan is approved, the National Assembly will allow negotiations to prolong the bonds’ validity for another five years.
Venezuela’s external debt, including PDVSA’s, reaches $60 billion. In 2017, the Maduro regime ceased payments to bondholders. In October, the default will have been in effect for six years, opening legal alternatives to recover the funds.
