Venezuela Creditors Met With Trump Officials to Discuss Rebuild

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC Photo by Aaron Schwartz /Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Blo

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(Bloomberg) — A group of Venezuelan bond investors met for the first time with Trump administration officials last week, holding talks on their potential role in the nation’s economic recovery.

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Representatives from the Venezuela Creditor Committee — composed of large US and European investment funds — visited the Eisenhower Executive Office building in Washington on Thursday. They held discussions with officials including Jarrod Agen, executive director of the National Energy Dominance Council, according to people familiar with the matter who are not authorized to speak publicly.

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The group represented itself as holding a significant portion of Venezuela’s roughly $100 billion of defaulted debt and made a case for being able to help channel investment to the battered economy, the people said. The meeting comes as bondholders seek a license from the US to start negotiating one of the largest and most complex debt restructurings in recent history.

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During the discussion, Agen addressed progress made to restore oil, gas and mining industries in Venezuela, a White House official said.

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The committee includes Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Greylock Capital Management and Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co, LLC, among others. 

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Houlihan Lokey, which advises the group, and legal representative Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP declined to comment.

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Investors have been piling into the country’s bonds since the US captured Nicolas Maduro in January, triggering a political overhaul that bolstered long-dormant hopes for a debt restructuring. 

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Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has been working with the Trump administration on institutional changes to open the energy industry to foreign investment, just as global oil supply is getting squeezed by the war in Iran. She previously met with National Energy Dominance Council Chairman Doug Burgum, the US interior secretary, and the panel’s vice chair, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, during separate trips to Caracas.

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Last week, the International Monetary Fund resumed formal contact with authorities in Caracas, a key step toward the fund’s first assessment in years of the economy. The US, meanwhile, named John M. Barrett as its top diplomat in the country.

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Venezuelan bonds have posted some of the best gains in emerging markets this year, with sovereign notes rising more than 60%, according to indicative pricing data compiled by Bloomberg.

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Bondholders have been seeking a license since 2024 that would give them the US government’s blessing to enter into discussions with Venezuelan authorities about its debt, which has been in default since 2017.

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Although Rodriguez was recognized as a legal authority by the US administration early last month, there are still hurdles preventing investors from formally engaging in negotiations, including the lack of explicit authorization by the Trump administration. US sanctions currently prevent Venezuela from issuing new debt, a necessary element in any restructuring process.

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—With assistance from Zijia Song and Fabiola Zerpa.

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