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.

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’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.

With Venezuela and its state-owned companies behind on $3.4 billion of bond payments, a group of creditors has joined together to consider their next steps and selected Millstein & Co. as financial adviser. The group will seek to evaluate the financial condition of Venezuela’s government and state oil producer Petroleos de Venezuela SA and “consider financing alternatives under an appropriate policy scenario,” according to a statement, which doesn’t detail which institutions are included in the committee or how much debt they hold, Bloomberg News reported.

If there is any smart money in Venezuela these days, it is probably in a $2.5bn, 8.5 per cent bond issued by PDVSA, the state oil company, due on October 27, 2020. Despite being declared in default, it trades around 85 cents on the dollar, suggesting investors believe they still have a good chance of getting paid, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Compare that with a $650m 8.5 per cent bond issued by Elecar, a state electric utility, that matured on Tuesday, April 10.

The Venezuelan debt crisis could be on the verge of a new milestone as a $650 million bond matures Tuesday with little hope it’ll get paid, Bloomberg News reported. The notes from the state-run electric utility were always considered among the country’s riskiest securities because the downsides to a default are relatively minor. They don’t contain any cross-default rules that would affect sovereign debt or notes from the state oil company, and the utility doesn’t have any overseas assets that investors could try to seize.

Brazilian authorities said on Tuesday they had filed lawsuits against 17 people and two companies over losses suffered when the Petrobras employee pension funds and the Caixa Economica Federal invested in a special fund without due diligence, Reuters reported. The lawsuit is seeking 219 million reais ($65.55 million) in compensation, which authorities said is three times the losses caused by the poor investments. Petros did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Caixa Economica’s pension fund Funcef declined to comment.