Argentina’s debt restructuring talks, in a tense final stretch, hit a roadblock on Wednesday with the government determined not to cede further ground after making an improved offer and a key creditor group warning that negotiations had failed, Reuters reported. An Economy Ministry source told Reuters the country was sticking by its latest proposal with a net present value of around 50 cents on the dollar and warrants linked to Argentina’s farm-driven exports. The offer was shared with creditors during recent talks.

LATAM Airlines Group said on Wednesday its Argentine subsidiary will cease operations indefinitely, canceling all domestic flights, its first major cutback since filing for bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. The announcement fell short of saying the company, Latin America’s largest airline, will entirely wind down its subsidiary, although it is unclear if it will ever resume operations. A LATAM spokesman said the subsidiary will begin a government process in Argentina before it can lay off 1,715 employees.

Farmers are lobbying against the Argentine government’s proposal to sweeten an offer on its overseas debt with payments tied to agriculture exports, Bloomberg News reported. Economy Minister Martin Guzman, who’s leading talks to restructure $65 billion of foreign debt, has put the idea on the table, though some creditors favor coupons linked to economic growth.

Investors holding debt protection for Argentina are set to share compensation of some $1.5 billion after the South American nation defaulted on its foreign debt for a ninth time last month, Bloomberg News reported. Firms holding the country’s credit-default swaps will receive about 68.5% of the amount covered by the instruments, according to the final results of an auction to settle the contracts on Friday. They get triggered when a borrower fails to pay its debt. Investors use the instruments to make negative bets on borrowers or as hedges for bond investments.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez is facing resistance from the agriculture industry, businessmen and even pot-banging citizens after announcing a decision to seize one of the world’s largest soy meal and oil exporters, Vicentin SAIC, Bloomberg News reported. Argentines from Buenos Aires to the northern city of Avellaneda, where Vicentin is headquartered, protested against the expropriation. On Wednesday evening, the sound of banging pots and pans could be heard in the capital, a traditional form of protest.

Latin American countries should quicken steps for airlines to renew domestic flights no later than July before more companies are forced to declare bankruptcy or close, a high-ranking official of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The trade group estimated losses for airlines in Latin America at $4 billion this year, with total losses for the industry expected to reach $84 billion globally. Latin America has imposed stricter travel restrictions than most regions to fight coronavirus.

A second wave of Covid-19 would deepen this year’s recession in Latin America’s three largest economies by more than 1 percentage point, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Bloomberg News reported. Argentina and Brazil would suffer the biggest hits, shrinking by 10% and 9.1%, respectively, while Mexico would contract by 8.6%, Paris-based OECD said in a report published on Wednesday. A possible second wave of the virus could come between October and November following the easing of containment measures currently in place, the organization said.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez dipped into the play book of his deputy, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, with a plan to seize crop trader Vicentin SAIC in a move that’ll ring alarm bells in soy markets and among investors in the country, Bloomberg News reported. Fernandez’s government will take control of Vicentin for the next 60 days as it seeks congressional approval to expropriate the agricultural powerhouse, which filed for bankruptcy last year after being caught out in currency swings.

Argentina’s Mendoza province, famed for its bodegas and Malbec grapes grown in the shadows of the Andes, has formally launched a debt restructuring process after missing an initial payment deadline on a 2024 bond, Reuters reported. The regional government said in a statement on Friday that it had opened an invitation to holders of around $590 million of the 2024 notes, which could see new debt instruments issued. The missed payment is still within a grace period.

Argentina's Buenos Aires province extended on Thursday the deadline for debt restructuring talks with its creditors to June 19, saying there could be room for negotiation with its creditors, WHTC reported. The province pushed out the deadline, previously set for Friday, after failing to reach a deal with bondholders, but said in a statement that it would "intensify the dialogue with investors who have not yet accepted the proposal" for about $7.148 billion in debt.