Even as Venezuela’s economic circumstances grow more precarious, a trust representing holders of Venezuelan bonds has instituted legal proceedings in a New York federal court demanding payment on more than US$34 million in unpaid debt.
The lawsuit, the country’s economic watchers believe, is the first of what is likely to be a long list of such actions by investors who have been unable to secure payments from the beleaguered Venezuelan administration in the face of the country’s huge cash crisis made worse by hyperinflation and collapsing oil production.
The recent lawsuit was filed by the Coral Gables firm Casa Express Corp, which says it is acting on behalf of investors which it represents in dollar-denominated bonds issued in 1998 and 2002.