Venezuela, one of the world’s riskiest credits, was declared in default by S&P Global Ratings after missing two interest payments on its debt, Bloomberg News reported. The nation, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, owed investors about $200 million and failed to make those payments by the end of a 30-day grace period that expired over the weekend, S&P said in a statement in which it lowered the country’s rating to SD. Plagued with payment delays and running low on cash, it’s the first time in recent years the government has exceeded the buffer period on its bonds.

Debt-laden Brazilian telecoms provider Oi SA could benefit from a third-party capital injection, but the company should focus on talks between creditors and shareholders before engaging new strategic investors, its chief executive said. In a Monday interview regarding third-quarter results, CEO Marco Schroeder said he thought it was “extremely important” that a long-delayed creditors meeting be held on Dec. 7 even if creditors and shareholders had not reached an agreement, Reuters reported.

Venezuela’s state electricity company was declared in default by the trustee for its bonds after it failed to make a $27.6 million interest payment, Bloomberg News reported. The electric utility, however, said that the cash was sent Nov. 8 and was being held up due to “operational changes.” Traders had long suspected that Elecar’s $650 million in notes coming due next year could be a candidate for the cash-strapped government to stop paying as it struggles to stay current on its debt.

In a related story, Bloomberg News reported that Venezuela is set to pump the least oil in almost three decades, just when it needs petrodollars the most. Output is expected to slump to 1.84 million barrels a day next year, the lowest compared with official government data since 1989, according to a survey with four analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Rig counts hit a 14-year low in October, as drilling companies including Schlumberger Ltd. reduce their exposure in the nation due to unpaid bills. Owner of crude reserves larger than Saudi Arabia’s, Venezuela is teetering on the brink of default.

Venezuela is stumbling closer to a full-blown, formal default on its debts, with bondholders reporting that they had yet to receive the full bond payment that was due last Friday and a finance industry body now about to decide whether default insurance should be paid out, the Financial Times reported. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro last week announced that the country would have to restructure its foreign debt pile, but promised to make one last $1.1bn payment on a bond issued by PDVSA, the state oil company.

In a related story, Bloomberg News reported that Venezuela and Russia have agreed on terms for restructuring about $3 billion of the Latin American country’s debt and the deal will come soon, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in Moscow. “The Venezuelans have confirmed the terms we’d agreed on, and that’s why the process will move into the concluding phase,” Siluanov told reporters on Wednesday. Russia had offered to reschedule debt payments over two stages, with payments on most of the state loan to be delayed to the second phase, Siluanov said late last month.

The law firm representing a bondholder group in debt-laden Brazilian telecoms company Oi SA has asked a court to nullify decisions made by the company’s board, according to a copy of the motion seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The motion by law firms including Pinheiro Neto Advogados, which represents the so-called Ad Hoc Group of Oi Bondholders, asked the court in Rio de Janeiro to suspend appointments the board made on Friday of two members of Oi’s management, Reuters report.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s credit grade was cut to one notch above default by Fitch Ratings in the aftermath of President Nicolas Maduro’s announcement that the country intends to restructure its global debt, including that of the state-run oil producer, Bloomberg News reported. Fitch lowered PDVSA’s rating to C from CC, citing last week’s announcement by the Venezuelan government, and a missed payment on the company’s bonds due 2027. The grace period for the $81 million interest payment, which was due last month, expires on Monday.

The head of Brazil’s telecommunications watchdog, Anatel, demanded on Monday that debt-laden carrier Oi SA submit its latest restructuring proposal to the regulator before officially filing it with a bankruptcy court, Reuters reported. Anatel head Juarez Quadros told reporters in Brasilia that the regulator, an Oi creditor due to billions of dollars in unpaid regulatory fines, would wait for the country’s solicitor-general to give an opinion on the company’s proposal before deciding whether or not to vote for it.

Venezuela’s credit grade was cut deeper into junk territory by Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings Friday, after President Nicolas Maduro called for a restructuring of the nation’s global debt, Bloomberg News reported. Fitch reduced the nation’s long-term foreign rating to C from CC and called a default "highly probable," according to a statement. S&P downgraded the sovereign and state run-oil company Petroleos de Venezuela to CC from CCC-, two notches from default.