Brazil coffee exporters owned by Montesanto Tavares Group Participações SA were granted a 60-day grace period to renegotiate debt with creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The decision, seen by Bloomberg News, was issued Friday by Judge Murilo Silvio de Abreu. The judge earlier this week declined a similar request for a grace period from the two companies owned by Montesanto — Atlântica Exportação e Importação SA and Cafebras Comércio de Cafés do Brasil SA.

A Brazilian judge ruled against major coffee exporter Montesanto Tavares Group Participações SA, which has been attempting to renegotiate debt owed to banks and firms including commodities trader Cargill Inc., Bloomberg News reported. Companies owned by the coffee group — Atlântica Exportação e Importação SA and Cafebras Comércio de Cafés do Brasil SA — were denied their joint request for a 60-day grace period on debt repayment as they negotiate with creditors in order to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

InterCement Participacoes SA, the cash-strapped Brazilian cement maker, filed for bankruptcy protection at a court in São Paulo, capping months of talks with creditors after skipping debt payments, Bloomberg News reported. The filing in Brazil became “the most appropriate option” to ensure the continuity of InterCement’s restructuring efforts, the firm said in the late Tuesday filing. Its parent company Mover Participacoes and subsidiaries are also part of the request.

Colombia’s finance chief has been hit with fresh accusations in an alleged corruption scandal, adding to complications for President Gustavo Petro just as the government tries to navigate a deepening fiscal crisis, Bloomberg News reported. Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla, who has just a month to secure approval for higher taxes meant to cover a 12 trillion peso ($2.7 billion) shortfall in next year’s budget, is now facing significant opposition in Congress, with lawmakers calling for his resignation.

Brazil’s economy once again shot past expectations in the third quarter, bolstered by hefty consumer and government spending that’s fanning above-target inflation and rattling markets, Bloomberg News reported. Official data released on Tuesday showed that gross domestic product expanded 0.9% in the July-September period compared to the second quarter. The expansion came on the back of robust domestic demand that has held firm in the face of double-digit borrowing costs.

President Javier Milei is imposing a December deadline on Argentina’s first bid to sell a long list of state-run companies to the private sector, outlining how challenging it will be for the government to unload businesses, Bloomberg News reported. The privatizations are part of Milei’s aggressive austerity campaign that he symbolizes with a chainsaw. He doesn’t believe the government should run companies, and says repeatedly that “everything that can be privatized, we’re going to privatize.” Milei is hoping to sell off state-run railways, banks, an airline and much more.

Court advisers have billed nearly $30 million for a stalled auction of shares in a parent of Venezuela-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum, raising the ire of creditors that have waited years to get compensation, Reuters reported. Citgo, the crown jewel of Venezuela's overseas assets, sits at the center of a Delaware court auction in which 18 companies seek to collect up to $21.3 billion for debt defaults and expropriations in the South American country.

Brazil’s inflation picked up much more than expected in early November, adding urgency to government plans to cut swelling public spending that is pushing cost-of-living increases above target, Bloomberg News reported. Official data released Tuesday showed consumer prices rose 4.77% from a year earlier, above all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists that had a 4.64% median estimate. On the month, they increased 0.62%. Price pressures are building in Latin America’s largest economy, stoked by a historic drought and investor anxiety over growing government spending.

A group of investors led by Elliott Investment Management faces new obstacles to taking control of Venezuela’s oil refiner Citgo Petroleum in a court-ordered auction while seeking to shield themselves from legal claims against the cash-strapped country, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Leonard P. Stark of the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., said in an order on Wednesday he isn’t inclined to let the sale proceed without preserving the legal liabilities.

Chile’s billionaire Luksic family is seeking €217 million ($226 million) in compensation from Banco Santander SA, PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP and others in connection to the collapse of a Spanish lender seven years ago, Bloomberg News reported. Aeris Invest, a Luxembourg-based financial holding company owned by South America’s second wealthiest family, is demanding the payment to cover losses incurred as shareholders of Banco Popular, after the lender went bankrupt and was taken over by Santander in 2017, according to legal documents seen by Bloomberg.