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       T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                 L A T I N   A M E R I C A

          Wednesday, January 5, 2022, Vol. 23, No. -2

                           Headlines



A R G E N T I N A

ARGENTINA: To Continue Payments While Renegotiating IMF Loan


B R A Z I L

ACU PETROLEO: S&P Assigns Prelim 'BB' Rating to Sr. Secured Notes
BRAZIL: Faces Economic Challenges in 2022
MINA TUCANO: Fined for Cyanide-Induced Fish Mortality


C A Y M A N   I S L A N D S

[*] CAYMAN ISLANDS: Records Significant Increase in Omicron Cases


D O M I N I C A N   R E P U B L I C

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Industrialists Don't Want Economy Closure


P U E R T O   R I C O

SPECTRUM GLOBAL: Amends Conversion Price of Series D Pref. Stock

                           - - - - -


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A R G E N T I N A
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ARGENTINA: To Continue Payments While Renegotiating IMF Loan
------------------------------------------------------------
Buenos Aires Times reports that Argentina says it will keep making
payments while talks with the International Monetary Fund continue
-- but that a deal must be agreed to restructure payments totalling
US$19 billion next year.

According to the report, the government said it had made the last
US$1.9-billion down payment due for 2021 on a massive IMF loan and
would continue settling the credit, whose "strategy" the lender
itself has questioned.

"We want to reach an agreement, we want to pay the maturities, but
we cannot do it in the way that they were scheduled for 2022,"
Presidential Spokesperson Gabriela Cerruti told reporters,
according to Buenos Aires Times.

"The payment was made," she said, but stressed Argentina and the
IMF needed to find a "sustainable" new approach for repayment, the
report relays.

Argentina has received US$44 billion of a US$57-billion loan from
the IMF arranged under former president Mauricio Macri, the report
notes.

After taking office, his successor Alberto Fernandez refused to
accept the rest of the loan, the report discloses.

Argentina, the IMF's biggest debtor, has been in recession since
2018 and is seeking to renegotiate the loan agreement, the report
relates.

So far this year, the country with a 40-percent poverty rate and
chronic inflation of a projected 50 percent for 2021, has forked
out some US$5.2 billion to the IMF in down payments and interest,
the report says.

The international lender, in an evaluation made public, said the
loan had failed to achieve its objectives of restoring confidence
in Argentina's fiscal viability and fostering economic growth, the
report discloses.

Instead, "the exchange rate continued to depreciate, increasing
inflation and the peso value of public debt, and weakening real
incomes, especially of the poor," it said, the report relays.

The loan's "strategy and conditionality," it added, were "not
sufficiently robust to address Argentina's deep-seated structural
problems" including fragile public finances, high inflation, a
small domestic financial sector and a narrow export base, the
report relays.

Economy Minister Martin Guzman said Argentina can "in no way"
afford two scheduled repayments of about US$19 billion each in 2022
and 2023, describing the debt as "absurd and damaging," the report
notes.

Negotiations on restructuring the debt continue: Argentina and the
IMF held a round of talks in Washington, and IMF Managing Director
Kristalina Georgieva and Fernandez held a video conference, the
report relays.

In recent days, tens of thousands of Argentines have held several
demonstrations against the debt, exactly 20 years since the
economic crisis that saw a bankrupt country explode in looting,
demonstrations and police repression that left a lasting trauma,
the report discloses.

The IMF evaluation said the Argentina situation held several
lessons for the future, starting with a basis in "realistic
assumptions" and loans "tailored to country circumstances," the
report says

Its findings, said the report, "should inform the ongoing
discussions on a potential follow-up program with Argentina," the
report relays.

Cerruti said that Argentina "does not have problems with
international reserves" and that the Central bank was "working as
best as possible to meet all commitments," the report discloses.

After payment, Argentina's total reserves stood at about US$39
billion, and economic analysts have warned that liquid reserves are
less than US$5 billion, the report adds.

                      About Argentina

Argentina is a country located mostly in the southern half of South
America.  It's capital is Buenos Aires. Alberto Angel Fernandez is
the current president of Argentina after winning the October 2019
general election. He succeeded Mauricio Macri in the position.

Argentina has the third largest economy in Latin America.  The
country's economy is an upper middle-income economy for fiscal year

2019, according to the World Bank. Historically, however, its
economic performance has been very uneven, with high economic
growth alternating with severe recessions, income maldistribution
and in the recent decades, increasing poverty.

Fitch Ratings' affirmed Argentina's 'CCC' Long-Term
Foreign-Currency and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs)
at 'CCC' last Oct. 18, 2021, reflecting macroeconomic imbalances
and acute financing constraints that continue to undermine debt
repayment capacity following 2020 bond restructurings, and
significant political uncertainty around how these challenges will
be addressed.

Standard & Poor's credit rating for Argentina stands at CCC+ with
stable outlook, which was a rating upgrade issued on Sept. 8,
2020. Moody's credit rating for Argentina was last set at Ca on
Sept. 28, 2020.  DBRS' credit rating for Argentina is CCC, given
on Sept. 11, 2020.

As reported by The Troubled Company Reporter - Latin American, DBRS
noted that the recent upgrade in Argentina's ratings (September
2020) follows the closing of two debt restructuring agreements
between the Argentine government and private creditors.  The first
restructuring involved $65 billion in foreign-law bonds.  The deal
achieved the requisite participation necessary to trigger the
collective action clauses and finalize the restructuring on 99% on
the aggregate principal outstanding of eligible bonds.  DBRS added
that the debt restructurings conclude a prolonged default and
provide the government with substantial principal and interest
payment relief over the next four years.

DBRS further relayed that Argentina is also seeking a new agreement
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to replace the canceled
2018 Stand-by Agreement.  Formal negotiations on the new financing
began in November 2020.  Obligations to the IMF amount to $44
billion, with major repayments coming due in 2022 and 2023.



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B R A Z I L
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ACU PETROLEO: S&P Assigns Prelim 'BB' Rating to Sr. Secured Notes
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On Jan. 3, 2022, S&P Global Ratings assigned its preliminary 'BB'
issue-level rating and a recovery rating of '2' to Brazilian
transshipment terminal operator Acu Petroleo S.A (Acu or the
project) will guarantee the $650 million senior secured amortizing
notes due 2035 to be issued by Acu Petroleo Luxembourg S.a.r.l.
(not rated).

S&P said, "Our rating analysis focuses on the project's operations,
considering that it started operating in 2016. We assess the
assets' class stability--the risk that a project's cash flow will
differ from expectations due to operational issues--at '4' (on a
scale of '1' to '10', with '1' as the strongest). The score mainly
reflects the risk of performing oil transshipment operations, which
we view as more complex than transshipment of other materials, such
as minerals, due to oil's flammable nature.

"Considering Acu's contracted status, we then analyze the project
in two phases. The take-or-pay contracts contribute to Acu's cash
flow stability, considering that they reduce the potential
volatility in both volumes and tariffs. The first phase takes place
in 2022, when the project has contracts for around 74% of its
volumes. The second phase starts in 2023 and ends in 2035, when Acu
holds contracts for 17% of the total volumes sold. Although we
expect that Acu will renew or sign new contracts in the next few
years, we cannot capture them in our analysis until they are
effectively in place.

"We view the market exposure as low in the first stage, given that
the CFADS might vary less than 20% in case of a market downside
scenario. In the second stage, we expect higher volatility with
CFADS potentially varying close to 50%. Our market downside
scenario includes lower volumes transshipped mainly due to lower
oil production amid long-term Brent oil prices at $40 per barrel,
versus the $55 per barrel we consider in the base-case scenario. In
addition, the market downside scenario captures stable tariffs,
aligned with those included in the latest contracts signed, versus
rising tariffs included in the base-case analysis.

"In our base case, we expect a minimum and average annual DSCR of
1.25x in the first stage. In the second stage, we expect minimum
and average metrics slightly higher, at 1.5x and 3.5x,
respectively. In addition, the project shows some resiliency under
a downside scenario that includes stresses to macroeconomic,
industry, and operating variables, because we think that Acu's
liquidity reserves would not be depleted during a five-year
downside period. Due to these factors, we assess the project's
operational phase SACP as 'bb' in both stages."

BRAZIL: Faces Economic Challenges in 2022
-----------------------------------------
Rio Times Online reports that getting out of recession, curbing
inflation, and bringing down unemployment are some of Brazil's
economic challenges in 2022 and reducing the current polarization
ahead of the October presidential elections which impacts the rest
of the challenges.

                       Out Of The Recession

According to the latest projections after the historic economic
retraction caused by the pandemic in 2020, when Brazilian GDP
contracted by 3.9%, Brazil will end 2021 with 4.5% growth,
according to Rio Times Online.

But this recovery was not sustainable, and the country entered a
technical recession in September after two consecutive quarters of
negative growth, the report notes.

                           About Brazil

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and third largest
in the Americas.  Jair Bolsonaro is the current president, having
been sworn in on Jan. 1, 2019.

Standard & Poor's credit rating for Brazil stands at BB- with
stable outlook (April 2020). S&P's 'BB-/B' long-and short-term
foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for Brazil
were affirmed in December 2021 with stable outlook.  Fitch
Ratings' credit rating for Brazil stands at 'BB-' with a negative
outlook (November 2020).  Fitch's 'BB-' Long-Term Foreign and
Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) has been affirmed
in May 2021. Moody's credit rating for Brazil was last set at Ba2
with stable outlook (April 2018). DBRS's credit rating for Brazil
is BB (low) with stable outlook (March 2018).

he Brazilian State of Amapa, bordering French Guyana and Suriname,
announced that it fined the mining company Mina Tucano, a
subsidiary of the Canadian company Great Panther, R$50 (US$8.7)
million for having caused unprecedented fish mortality in the
extreme north of the Amazon as a result of contamination by mercury
cyanide used for gold extraction.

This was announced by the Secretariat of the Environment of the
State of Amapa, in the extreme north of Brazil, which indicated
that the fine was applied on December 21 for the contamination of
two streams

Mina Tucano, which specializes in gold, is a Great Panther Mining
Limited subsidiary headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with
operations in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru.


MINA TUCANO: Fined for Cyanide-Induced Fish Mortality
-----------------------------------------------------
Rio Times Online reports that the Brazilian State of Amapa,
bordering French Guyana and Suriname, announced that it fined the
mining company Mina Tucano, a subsidiary of the Canadian company
Great Panther, R$50 (US$8.7) million for having caused
unprecedented fish mortality in the extreme north of the Amazon as
a result of contamination by mercury cyanide used for gold
extraction.

This was announced by the Secretariat of the Environment of the
State of Amapa, in the extreme north of Brazil, which indicated
that the fine was applied on December 21 for the contamination of
two streams, according to Rio Times Online.

Mina Tucano, which specializes in gold, is a Great Panther Mining
Limited subsidiary headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with
operations in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru.




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C A Y M A N   I S L A N D S
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[*] CAYMAN ISLANDS: Records Significant Increase in Omicron Cases
-----------------------------------------------------------------
RJR News reports that in the Cayman Islands -- the number of
COVID-19 Omicron variant cases in the territory has more than
doubled, with confirmed or suspected cases of the new strain
increasing to 242, and 44 cases have been confirmed via genomic
sequencing.

However, an update from interim chief medical officer, Dr. Autilia
Newton, said 198 probable Omicron cases had been reported,
according to RJR News.

This includes 139 new cases since December 24.

The latest Omicron infections were among 361 confirmed COVID-19
cases reported in the update, the report relays.

Health authorities say 78 involved travellers while 283 were from
community spread, the report notes.

The results bring the number of  active cases of COVID-19 in the
Cayman Islands to 3,930, the report adds.




===================================
D O M I N I C A N   R E P U B L I C
===================================

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Industrialists Don't Want Economy Closure
-------------------------------------------------------------
Dominican Today reports that the industrial sector is cautious with
the omicron variant that already circulates in many parts of the
world.

The president of the National Association of Companies and
Industries of Herrera (Aneih), Noel Urena, does not believe that it
is appropriate to close the economy because companies have their
protocols under development, but rather to apply greater controls
in the most contagious variant coincides with dates festive in most
of the world, which further facilitates its spread, according to
Dominican Today.

However, he stressed that the sector is concerned that this omicron
variant will aggravate even more temporarily the disruption in
trade due to the effect it can have on the supply of products and
services, including logistics in countries that are surprised by a
very steep increase of new cases of Covid-19 patients, who are
unable to go to their jobs, the report notes.

                        Greater Control

Urena affirmed that the measures should have been adopted before
fully opening the celebrations of the Christmas festivities, so he
believes that it is appropriate to close now, the report relays.
However, they always respect that health policy is prioritized
because there is no economy or anything without health, the report
notes.

He understands that if restrictive measures are to be taken, they
have to start applying them by the 31st last December 2021,
controlling a little "because free activities have gotten out of
hand," the report discloses.

He reiterated that companies already have protocols to continue
working and guarantee employees' health, so he thinks that
restriction policies should not be touched yet as was done before
unless there is no outbreak or regrowth, the report says.

                   About Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation that shares the island
of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. Capital city Santo Domingo
has Spanish landmarks like the Gothic Catedral Primada de America
dating back 5 centuries in its Zona Colonial district. Luis Rodolfo
Abinader Corona is the current president of the nation.

As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on
Dec. 10, 2021, Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Dominican
Republic's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR)
to Stable from Negative and affirmed the IDRs at 'BB-'

TCRLA reported in April 2019 that the Dominican Today related that
Juan Del Rosario of the UASD Economic Faculty cited a current
economic slowdown for the Dominican Republic and cautioned that if
the trend continues, growth would reach only 4% by 2023. Mr. Del
Rosario said that if that happens, "we'll face difficulties in
meeting international commitments."

An ongoing concern in the Dominican Republic is the inability of
participants in the electricity sector to establish financial
viability for the system.

Fitch Ratings on Jan. 18, 2021, assigned a 'BB-' rating to
Dominican Republic's USD1.5 billion 5.3% notes due Jan. 21, 2041.
Concurrently, the Dominican Republic reopened its 2030 4.5% notes
for an additional USD1.0 billion, which Fitch rates 'BB-', raising
the total outstanding amount of the 2030 notes to USD2.0 billion.

Standard & Poor's, on December 4, 2020, affirmed its 'BB-'
long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on
the Dominican Republic. The outlook remains negative. S&P also
affirmed its 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings. The negative
outlook reflects S&P's view that it could lower the ratings on the
Dominican Republic over the next six to 18 months, given the
severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sovereign's already
vulnerable fiscal and external profiles, as well as the potential
for a weaker-than-expected economic recovery.

Moody's credit rating for Dominican Republic was last set at Ba3
with stable outlook (July 2017). Fitch's credit rating for
Dominican Republic was last reported at BB- with negative outlook
(May 8, 2020).




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P U E R T O   R I C O
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SPECTRUM GLOBAL: Amends Conversion Price of Series D Pref. Stock
----------------------------------------------------------------
Spectrum Global Solutions, Inc. filed an amendment to its
Certificate of Designation of Series D Preferred Stock with the
Secretary of State of the State of Nevada, effective Dec. 16,
2021.

Amendment No. 1 amended the conversion price of the Series D
Preferred Stock and provided that on the business day immediately
preceding the listing of the Company's common stock on a national
securities exchange, without any further action, all shares of
Series D Preferred will automatically convert into shares of
Common
Stock at the Fixed Price, which will be defined as the closing
price of the Common Stock on the trading day immediately preceding
the date of issuance of the Series D Preferred (subject to
adjustment for any reverse or forward split of the Common Stock).

                  About Spectrum Global Solutions

Boca Raton, Florida-based Spectrum Global Solutions Inc. --
https://SpectrumGlobalSolutions.com -- operates through its
subsidiaries ADEX Corp., Tropical Communications Inc. and AW
Solutions Puerto Rico LLC.  The Company is a provider of
telecommunications engineering and infrastructure services across
the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Caribbean.

Spectrum Global reported a net loss attributable to the company of
$17.71 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020, compared to a net
loss attributable to the company of $5.83 million for the year
ended Dec. 31, 2019.  As of March 31, 2021, the Company had $6.38
million in total assets, $22.17 million in total liabilities,
$1.02 million in total mezzanine equity, and a total stockholders'
deficit of $16.81 million.

Draper, Utah-based Sadler, Gibb & Associates, LLC, the Company's
auditor since 2014, issued a "going concern" qualification in its
report dated April 1, 2021, citing that the Company has incurred
losses since inception, has negative cash flows from operations,
and has negative working capital, which creates substantial doubt
about its ability to continue as a going concern.



                           *********


S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America is a daily newsletter
co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless
Hills, Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C.,
USA, Marites O. Claro, Joy A. Agravante, Rousel Elaine T.
Fernandez, Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A.
Chapman, Editors.

Copyright 2022.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2746.

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