Argentina country risk up after bond sale to Venezuela

Argentina country risk Friday topped 700 basis points, as measured by the JP Morgan emerging market bond index EMBI+, due to concerns over its financial outlook. The index reached its highest level since 2005, when the country carried out a massive debt swap.

Doubts about the future of Argentinean domestic economy led to massive sales of assets, at a time when global markets and investors show a strong aversion to risk, according to traders quoted by Reuters.

Argentina was affected by restrictions to access international financing and the only option left was to place all bond issues in direct sales to Venezuela.

In May, Venezuela bought USD 1.36 billion in Argentinean US-dollar denominated BODEN 2015 bonds, in a cash payment of USD 1 billion. The implied yield of the operation was 12.9 percent. Venezuela has bought a total of USD 7 billion in Argentinean bonds in the last few years.

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IISS: The FARC financed Chávez before 1999

10:07 AM. DIPLOMACY. Admired by the Colombian guerrilla after his coup attempt in 1992, the then lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez Frías received financial support by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for his projects after his capture that year. This mostly explains the relationship and "debt" between the parties, as revealed by a paper of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) of the United Kingdom.