Argentina asked the International Monetary Fund for financing to help stem a five-month-rout in the peso that is sparking a surge in interest rates and threatening to derail the country’s economic recovery, Bloomberg News reported. “This will allow us to face the new global scenario and avoid a crisis like the ones we have faced before in our history," President Mauricio Macri said in a televised address Tuesday. The president didn’t state how much money was being requested but a person with direct knowledge of the talks said officials are seeking a flexible credit line worth $30 billion.

A company set up to operator Brazil’s Viracopos airport filed for protection from creditors on Monday, according to a securities filing, but assured that operations at the major cargo hub will remain normal, Reuters reported. Aeroportos Brasil SA, which in 2012 won the concession for a 51 percent stake in the Viracopos airport, is jointly owned by Triunfo Participações e Investimentos SA, UTC Engenharia SA and France’s Egis Airport Operation. Triunfo and UTC each own 45 percent of ABSA, as the operator is known, while Egis controls a 10 percent stake.

Since his 2015 election, President Mauricio Macri has pushed to reconnect Argentina to the global financial system, after years of isolation. His approach — emphasizing lower tariffs, accurate economic data, trade pacts and the freer flow of capital — was largely aimed at coaxing foreign investment back to Argentina and ending the economic exile that followed the country’s default in 2001. But over the last week, Argentina has been reminded that when capital is free to flow in, it can also flow out, creating profound economic implications, the International New York Times reported.

The price of crude, long a bellwether for oil-rich, cash-poor Venezuela’s ability to repay debt, is anything but that these days. The correlation coefficient between oil and Venezuela’s benchmark 2027 bond is on the verge of turning negative for the first time since January, Bloomberg News reported. That’s happened only three times in the past decade, apart from the three months after President Nicolas Maduro called for a debt restructuring in November.

An investment fund that’s seeking a payout from the Cuban government on more than $1.3 billion in defaulted debt and back interest has hired the lawyer who won a settlement for hedge funds in a long-running legal battle against Argentina, Bloomberg News reported. CRF I Ltd. contracted Matthew McGill, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, to represent it in its claim against Cuba “including potential litigation,” according to a letter from the firm provided to Bloomberg News by a fund investor.

Brazil avoided a possible default as Congress approved funds for the payment of a loan guarantee made to Venezuela and Mozambique, Bloomberg News reported. In a 216-to-41 vote, a joint session of Congress authorized late Wednesday the release of 1.16 billion reais ($281 million) to boost a fund that guarantees exports and that will make the payments, according to the government’s news agency. Brazilian taxpayers are on the hook because Caracas looks set to miss a May 8 deadline for a $275 million debt installment.

Brazil’s government needs swift congressional action to avoid defaulting on loan guarantees it has made to Venezuela and Mozambique, Bloomberg News reported. Legislators must approve the use of up to 1.5 billion reais ($424 million) to honor loans that banks made as part of a policy to finance exports. Brasilia itself is on the hook because Caracas is poised to miss a May 8 deadline for a $275 million debt installment.

A strengthening dollar pushed Argentina to raise its policy interest rate 3 percentage points on Friday to 30.25 per cent, underscoring the mounting pressure on emerging market currencies. The rate rise ended a week in which Argentina’s central bank spent about $3bn to support the currency, which has lost more than a quarter of its dollar value over the past year, the Financial Times reported.

The board of Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel on Wednesday voted against a proposal by Telefonica Brasil SA to swap 3 billion reais ($861.08 million) in regulatory fines for new investments, Reuters reported. The Anatel board rejected the fine-for-investment swap by a 3-2 vote, said Juarez Quadros, head of the regulator. The company has been hit with various fines stretching back several years. Telefonica said in an emailed statement that the company lamented the regulator’s decision. It stressed it would continue investing in upgrading its operations.

The cash-strapped construction unit of Odebrecht, the Brazilian group at the centre of Latin America’s largest corruption scandal, said it would miss a Wednesday deadline for a R$500m debt payment, the Financial Times reported. But Odebrecht Engenharia e Construção said in a notice to investors that the group was in “advanced negotiations” on the payment and indicated it would be completed within a 30-day grace period, which would avoid a formal default.