Venezuela, which has the largest crude reserves on the planet, has defied predictions of default since the oil collapse started in 2014, and analysts are split as to how long the nation of 30 million can hold out. With that in mind, Bloomberg is taking a close look each month at some of the key components that may determine its fate. After weeks of tense negotiations, state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela said last week that creditors holding $2.8 billion of bonds that come due over the next year agreed to extend maturities.

The Brazilian government collected 50.9 billion reais ($15.8 billion) in taxes and fines under an amnesty program offered to individuals and corporations with undeclared but legitimate funds parked overseas, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. By the program’s Monday deadline, 25,114 individuals and firms agreed to pay a 15% income tax and a fine equal to taxes paid, lower than they would have paid without the program, in exchange for immunity from potential prosecution for tax evasion and other charges, the ministry said.

Óleo e Gás Participações SA , the oil firm founded by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista now operating under bankruptcy court supervision, has proposed a debt-for-equity swap after a slump in oil prices compromised its financial health. In a Friday securities filing, the company said it proposed the plan to lenders owed 1.85 billion reais ($5a79 million) in debt, including a loan provided to help the firm emerge from bankruptcy, called a debtor-in-possession (DIP) facility.

Óleo e Gás Participações SA , the oil firm founded by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista now operating under bankruptcy court supervision, has proposed a debt-for-equity swap after a slump in oil prices compromised its financial health. In a Friday securities filing, the company said it proposed the plan to lenders owed 1.85 billion reais ($5a79 million) in debt, including a loan provided to help the firm emerge from bankruptcy, called a debtor-in-possession (DIP) facility.

Less than a year ago, Argentina was on the brink of a balance of payments crisis after 12 years of populist rule. But dollars have flooded into the economy since the business-friendly government of Mauricio Macri took over last December, with central bank reserves last week surging above $40bn, the Financial Times reported.

Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy has been hit by falling oil prices and what critics say is government mismanagement of state resources, reports Anatoly Kurmanaev, The Wall Street Journal Energy Journal blog reported. Oil accounts for 96% of the Latin American country’s exports. Venezuela’s crude production was 2.3 million barrels a day in September, 11% lower than a year earlier, according to government figures, and the consulting firm Medley & Associates expects the fall to accelerate in the next 12 months.

To most investors, Venezuela looks less like a market than a mess. The IMF expects output to shrink by 10% this year and inflation to exceed 700%, The Economist reported. As the bolívar’s value has plunged, multinational firms have announced billions of dollars of write-downs. For much of this year, however, some strong-stomached investors have scented an opportunity. They rushed to buy bonds issued by the government and by the state-owned oil company, PDVSA. They have been rewarded handsomely.

Colombia’s government submitted a broad tax-overhaul proposal to Congress that raises taxes on ordinary Colombians and cracks down on evasion in a bid to fill a budget shortfall created by lower oil prices, The Wall Street Journal reported. At stake is the vaunted sovereign credit rating in Latin America’s fourth-largest economy and President Juan Manuel Santos ’s ambitious plans to modernize a poverty-stricken countryside. Both Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s earlier this year warned of downgrading Colombia’s BBB rating unless the government found a way to raise revenue.

Oi SA's decision to request protection from creditors in June accelerated discussions between Brazil's government and phone carriers to revamp telecommunications licensing regulations, said Igor Freitas, a board member at industry watchdog Anatel. Brazil's new centre-right government is pushing through Congress an authorization-based model for the telecoms industry, which will allow companies to own the assets after making infrastructure investments. Under the existing framework, fixed-line assets are returned to the state after the concession expires.

Venezuela's government-run oil giant -- the country's largest source of cash -- is warning that it could default on its bonds as early as next week, CNN reported. Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, failed to get investors to agree on a deal to push back debt payments by three years. The company said it is extending its deadline for a third time so investors can accept a deal by Friday night. This time, it warned that things could get messy.