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Venezuela: “We Swear We Were Gonna Pay You Back” It’s always fun and games until one country decides to miss a $200 million loan payment. Heavily-indebted, inflation-riddled Venezuela has officially defaulted on the first of (what should be) many loan payments. What went wrong? Well, it’s hard to pay off $60 billion in IOUs to bondholders with only $9 billion left in the bank. That, and the fact Venezuela's already late on $420 million worth of payments. If you’re looking to point the finger at someone, aim it at President Maduro(labeled a “dictator” by the Trump administration) and his drug-slinging partner-in-crime, Vice President Tareck El Aissami. Together, they’ve shown little promise of reviving the nation. Look no further than Monday’s debt restructuring meeting, where international investors didn’t get the plan they had hoped for (or any at all)...but they did get some chocolate. Altogether, Venezuela holds $150 billion in sovereign debt. And with this latest default, you better believe investors are flashing back to 2012...when Greece shocked the world, defaulting on over $200 billion. http://morningbrew.cmail20.com/t/j-l-oirkudy-ydjytlddtu-yh/