Ep 169 - Can We Say Anything Meaningful About a Venezuelan Debt Restructuring?

Ep 169 - Can We Say Anything Meaningful About a Venezuelan Debt Restructuring?

From Clauses & Controversies by Mitu Gulati & Mark Weidemaier

February 2, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities and challenges of restructuring Venezuela's enormous debt amidst political and economic pressures.

Can We Say Anything Meaningful About a Venezuelan Debt Restructuring? Venezuela must restructure its debt if it, and its new "friends" in Washington DC, want the economy humming again. But how? The debt stock is enormous and the range of claims so vast that normal techniques are unlikely to work. And typically, before anything could happen, the IMF would need to go in and assess the actual situation on the ground. All this takes time. But we imagine that the folks in Washington DC want to declare their adventure a success, and soon. Is that impulse consistent with an orderly, comprehensive debt restructuring? For that matter, what would a restructuring look like if we also assume that Washington wants to line its own pockets with Venezuelan oil revenues, and perhaps to give preferential treatment to oil major creditors (to entice them back into Venezuela)? We don’t have answers — but we suspect that those folks in DC don’t either. Producer: Leanna Doty

People in this episode

Hosts: Mitu Gulati, Mark Weidemaier

Topics covered

  • debt restructuring
  • Venezuela
  • IMF
  • Washington DC
  • oil revenues
  • economic policy

Keywords

  • Venezuela
  • debt restructuring
  • IMF
  • Washington DC
  • oil revenues
  • economic policy
  • creditors

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: IMF

Products: oil

Places: Venezuela, Washington DC, Venezuelan

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