Venezuela on brink of default

elpais.comreported “We are going to pay the amount due in the next few weeks. We have the fortitude and capacity to continue to fully meet our international obligations this year,” President Nicolás Maduro said during a meeting with his economic team in Caracas last week. Although the statement was applauded, there are reasons to question whether Venezuela has the resources to pay.

The country must come up with $6 billion to cover its sovereign debt and loans owed through the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa), this October. Since taking office in February 1999, the Bolivarian Revolution has made punctual payments on its debts. But now that the government holds an unbalanced balance sheet, there is reasonable doubt as to whether Venezuela – the country with the largest crude oil reserves on the planet and more than $100 billion in oil exports on average every year – has enough resources to meet its obligations. Read Article