As a Debt Deadline Looms for Venezuela, Maduro Is Defiant
There was no grace period for the loan payment due on Thursday,
and it remained unclear how investors would react to the failure of the state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, or Pdvsa, to make the payment on time.
Mr. Maduro has sought to avoid a default, which could trigger years of international legal battles among creditors for control of
Pdvsa assets outside Venezuela, including its American refinery subsidiary Citgo and tankers that deliver oil around the world.
The announcement came at the deadline for a $1.2 billion payment by the state oil company
on a maturing bond, which Mr. Maduro said his government would instead deliver on Friday.
International bond experts and the markets had been optimistic
that the Venezuelan state oil company would make the $1.2 billion payment on time on Thursday.
During a similar debt crunch in April, Rosneft provided a $1 billion advance payment
for oil, which was crucial for Pdvsa to make nearly $3 billion in bond payments.