/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCRLA_Public/220818.mbx        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

          Thursday, August 18, 2022, Vol. 23, No. 159

                           Headlines



A R G E N T I N A

ARGENTINA: Plows Ahead With Utility-Subsidy Cuts, Key to IMF Deal


B A R B A D O S

BARBADOS: Government Caps Gas Prices


B R A Z I L

BNDES: Inks Deal w/ IDB for Water Projects for Vulnerable Groups
PETROLEO BRASILEIRO: Discloses New Diesel Price Cut in Brazil


C O L O M B I A

COLOMBIA: Work Underway to Reopen Border W/ Venezuela


M E X I C O

MEXARREND SAPI: S&P Lowers LT ICR to 'B-', Kept on Watch Negative


V E N E Z U E L A

VENEZUELA: Names Ambassador to Colombia, Seeks Normalization

                           - - - - -


=================
A R G E N T I N A
=================

ARGENTINA: Plows Ahead With Utility-Subsidy Cuts, Key to IMF Deal
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Buenos Aires Times reports that Argentina is moving forward with
subsidy cuts on utility bills in a bid to comply with its
US$44-billion program with the International Monetary Fund despite
the political costs.

Officials rolled out the details of the subsidy squeeze they
estimate will save fiscal spending equivalent to 0.5 percent of
gross domestic product next year, according to Treasury Secretary
Raul Rigo, who spoke alongside other officials at a press
conference, according to Buenos Aires Times.  Rigo estimated
savings from the reductions this year would be about "a third" of
next year's figure, the report notes.

The plan is to impose the steepest increases on high earners and
shield low-income users from the same treatment across gas,
electric and water bills. The government is also asking citizens to
ration their energy use at home, the report relays.    

"The segmentation has been designed with a distribution criteria
based in social justice and equality," Energy Secretary Flavia
Royon said at the press conference, the report notes.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa promised to meet the 2.5 percent
primary fiscal deficit target this year in the IMF program, the
report relays.  Meeting the target requires painful spending cuts
that, while seen by investors as necessary to stabilize the economy
in the medium-term, will likely face pushback from citizens already
enduring 70 percent inflation this year, the report says.

Cutting energy subsidies is deeply unpopular in Argentina, where
the government spent almost US$11 billion last year to keep bills
nearly flat despite high inflation, the report relays.  Except for
Venezuela, Argentina spends the most of any country in Latin
America on utility subsidies, while home bills are among the lowest
in the region, according to the IMF's most recent review of the
agreement, the report notes.

The pace of subsidy cuts was one of the last hold ups in the
government's two-year negotiation with IMF staff, the report
discloses.  Former economy minister Martin Guzman, who negotiated
the deal, abruptly resigned in July citing a lack of support to
implement such measures, the report says.   

A long history in Argentina of utility price hikes fuelling high
inflation makes the topic politically costly, the report relays.
The previous government of president Mauricio Macri lost the 2019
election in part due to sharp price hikes on gas, electric and
water bills to comply with its IMF deal at the time, adds the
report.

                   About Argentina

Argentina is a country located mostly in the southern half of
South America.  Its 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.

Last March 25, 2022, Argentina finalized agreement with the IMF
for a new USD44 billion Extended Funding Facility (EFF) intended
to fund USD40 billion in looming repayments of the defunct
Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), with an extra USD4 billion in up-front
net financing. This has averted the risk of a default to the IMF
and is facilitating a parallel rescheduling of Paris  Club debt.

As reported by The Troubled Company Reporter - Latin America on
Aug. 12, 2022, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its foreign and
local-currency sovereign credit ratings of 'CCC+/C' on the
Republic of Argentina. The outlook remains stable. S&P also
affirmed its national scale 'raBBB-' rating and its 'CCC+'
transfer and convertibility assessment. S&P said the stable
outlook reflects the challenges in managing pronounced economic
imbalances ahead  of the 2023 national elections given
disagreement on policy  within the government coalition and
financing pressures in the local market.

Last April 14, 2022, Fitch Ratings affirmed Argentina's Long-Term
Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at 'CCC'.
Fitch said Argentina's 'CCC' ratings reflect weak external
liquidity and pronounced macroeconomic imbalances that undermine
debt repayment capacity, and uncertainty regarding how much
progress can be made on these issues under a new IMF program.
On July 19, 2022, Fitch Ratings placed Argentina's Long-Term
Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and Long-Term Local
Currency IDR Under Criteria Observation (UCO) following the
conversion of the agency's Exposure Draft: Sovereign Rating
Criteria to final criteria. The UCO assignment indicates that
ratings may change as a direct result of the final criteria.
It does not indicate a change in the underlying credit profile,
nor does it affect existing Rating Outlooks.

Moody's credit rating for Argentina was last set at Ca on
Sept. 28, 2020.

DBRS has also confirmed Argentina's Long-Term Foreign Currency
Issuer Rating at CCC and Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Rating at
CCC (high) on July 21, 2022.




===============
B A R B A D O S
===============

BARBADOS: Government Caps Gas Prices
------------------------------------
RJR News reports that the Barbados government has capped gas
prices.

The country's Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that effective
August 19, a liter of gasoline will not exceed BBD4.48 per liter,
according to RJR News.

A litre of diesel will be capped at BBD4.3 per liter, the report
relays.

The cap will last until January 2023, the report adds.





===========
B R A Z I L
===========

BNDES: Inks Deal w/ IDB for Water Projects for Vulnerable Groups
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Brazilian Development
Bank (BNDES) signed a technical cooperation agreement to create
models for performing preliminary viability assessments of
public-private partnership projects and service concessions for
water and sanitation in Brazil. The IDB donated $350,000 to build
innovative tools to support BNDES's work to structure these
projects, especially in remote areas where projects have less
financial viability.

The goal is to channel more investments to these areas, reducing
associated risks and increasing the chances of success for all
stakeholders.

One of the tools will set parameters for assessing the technical,
financial, economic and legal viability of projects to provide
universal water and sanitation in a single municipality, a group of
municipalities or a region. This pre-assessment will streamline
processes and enable BNDES to use resources more efficiently to
structure public-private partnership projects, since it will
quickly give BNDES the information it needs to model projects with
more certainty.

"This initiative reflects the value proposition of the new IDB we
are building: resources are put toward creating robust solutions
that can overcome structural challenges, benefiting vulnerable
populations and building bridges between the public and private
sectors," said Morgan Doyle, IDB Representative in Brazil.

The BNDES' director of Concessions and Privatizations, Fabio
Abrahao, added: "BNDES has become the largest infrastructure
concession structuring company in the world. It has opened up the
Brazilian sanitation market to the private sector. Now we have a
new challenge: universal access to water and sewage services in
remote regions. Part of our policy is to leave no one behind. So we
need to innovate and create new models, which prompted this
partnership with the IDB."

IDB and BNDES specialists with extensive technical expertise will
also work with consultants to create a tool to calculate operating
costs and capital investments for water and sanitation services in
slums and rural areas. These data will be incorporated into the
financial models of public-private partnership contracts and
concessions so actions targeting these areas can be advanced.


PETROLEO BRASILEIRO: Discloses New Diesel Price Cut in Brazil
-------------------------------------------------------------
Rio Times Online reports that Brazilian state-owned oil company
Petrobras, the largest in Latin America, disclosed a new diesel
price cut, continuing the government's policy of reducing fuel
prices, thanks to which inflation fell by 0.68% in July.

Petrobras said that a liter of diesel will be sold to distributors
at a price of BRL5.41 (US$$1.1) starting Aug. 12, a decrease of
4.07%, according to Rio Times Online.

This is the second decline in the price of diesel since President
Jair Bolsonaro chose Caio Paes de Andrade as the new head of
Petrobras, the report relays.

As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on July
14, 2022, Egan-Jones Ratings Company on July 8, 2022, upgraded the
foreign currency and local currency senior unsecured ratings on
debt issued by Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras to BB+ from
BB.




===============
C O L O M B I A
===============

COLOMBIA: Work Underway to Reopen Border W/ Venezuela
-----------------------------------------------------
telesurenglish.net reports that the president of Colombia, Gustavo
Petro, confirmed at a press conference that work is already
underway on normalizing relations with Venezuela, broken since 2015
when Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018) governed.

"Before the possession, the normalization of relations is being
worked on, which is a process that involves the opening of the
border (. . .) at the moment the foreign minister has made contacts
with the other government to process the opening of the border," he
said, according to telesurenglish.net.

Regarding rumors of a possible visit of Nicolas Maduro to Colombia,
President Petro said "no," the report notes.

Regarding the Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino
Lopez, of the order to re-establish military relations with
Colombia, Petro confirmed that diplomatic dialogues must be resumed
on different fronts, the report relays.

"Commercial, cultural, social, family and even military relations
must be re-established. These are commissions that already existed;
now we have to rebuild them so that the whole process can be set in
motion", he confirmed, the report discloses.

The Colombian president said that once the fundamental issues are
overcome, a review of the company Monomeros Colombo Venezolanos,
which was in the hands of the opposition and Juan Guaido, thanks to
the Government of Ivan Duque (2018 -2022), could begin, the report
says.

"With the most important thing overcome, there are more complex
issues, for example, Monomeros Colombo Venezolanos, which is where
fertilizers were made, is an affected company almost bankrupt that
we have to see technically how it can be restarted and we have to
see the legal form, we have to see the system of sanctions that is
still in force, etcetera, then let's say, that is not so easy," he
said, the report relays.

Gustavo Petro, of the leftist coalition Pacto Historico, obtained
11,281,9002 million votes or 50.44 percent, defeating the former
mayor of Bucaramanga (north) Rodolfo Hernandez, the report notes.
The latter had 10,580,399 million votes and a percentage of 47.31
percent, the report adds.




===========
M E X I C O
===========

MEXARREND SAPI: S&P Lowers LT ICR to 'B-', Kept on Watch Negative
-----------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings took various rating actions on the following
Mexican Nonbank Financial Institutions (NBFI), as part of its
review of this sector and individual companies, based on increasing
financing risk:

-- Mexarrend S.A.P.I. de C.V. (Mexarrend): S&P lowered its
long-term issuer credit and issue-level ratings to 'B-' from 'B'
and kept them on CreditWatch with negative implications.

-- Operadora de Servicios Mega, S.A. de C.V. SOFOM, E.R. (GFMEGA):
S&P lowered its long-term issuer credit and issue-level ratings to
'B+' from 'BB-' and the outlook is now negative.

-- Engencap Holding S. de R.L. de C.V. (Engencap): S&P lowered its
long-term issuer credit rating to 'B+' from 'BB-' and the outlook
is now negative.

-- Financiera Independencia S.A.B. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R. (Findep):
S&P lowered its long-term issuer credit and issue-level ratings to
'B' from 'B+' and the outlook is now negative.

-- Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los
Trabajadores (Infonavit) (Infonavit): S&P affirmed its 'BBB/A-2'
issuer credit ratings and maintained the stable outlook.

-- Fondo Especial de Asistencia Tecnica y Garantia Para Creditos
Agropecuarios (FEGA) (FEGA): S&P affirmed its 'BBB/A-2' issuer
credit ratings and maintained the stable outlook.

S&P said, "We are lowering our anchor for Mexican NBFIs to 'bb-'
from 'bb'.This because of increasing funding and economic risks
that these companies face and which are widening the gap between
them and banks operating in Mexico, the anchor of which is
currently at 'bbb-'. Among the main risks that NBFIs face relative
to banks are, the lack of access to funding from the central bank,
lower regulatory oversight, and higher competitive risk than banks
due to their lower cost of financing. NBFIs are confronting a grim
economic outlook, while the erosion of investor confidence in the
sector is restricting its access to international debt markets.
Moreover, after the recent announcement of the largest independent
non-bank lender (Unifin Financiera) that it will seek to enter a
debt restructuring agreement with all its creditors, we believe
this sector will also struggle accessing funding in the domestic
capital market, and financing conditions will become even more
restrictive. Moreover, we believe the funding that government-owned
development banks provide to this sector--which we considered a
stable funding source for NBFIs with a track record of supporting
this sector through guarantees and liquidity during periods of
markets turmoil--won't be enough to offset financing strains ahead.
All these factors will magnify the differences between the banking
sector and that of the NBFIs.

"We expect significant pressures on independent NBFIs' funding and
liquidity profiles for the next 12 months. The shrinking access to
international and domestic debt markets, coupled with a
deteriorating global macroeconomic outlook, is increasing financing
risks. While the range of funding alternatives is narrowing, we
believe secured credit facilities and securitizations could provide
relief. In this sense, we believe that independent NBFIs will now
be looking to tap domestic funding while preserving their liquidity
positions. We expect these companies' financial flexibility will be
under pressure amid higher funding costs and lower growth
opportunities for the next 12 months, which would weaken their
creditworthiness, making NBFIs more vulnerable to deteriorating
economic and financing conditions.

"Consequently, we're downgrading by one notch Mexarrend, GFMEGA,
and Engencap, reflecting the rising funding and economic risks for
the NBFI sector that are widening the gap between these entities
and banks operating in Mexico. We're also downgrading Findep by one
notch. Findep's anchor remains unchanged, reflecting the company's
increasing operations in the U.S., which currently represent about
half of the loan portfolio, resulting a lower blended economic risk
than those of NBFIs that operate solely in Mexico. However, we're
revising our assessment of its funding profile to moderate from
adequate because of the narrow range of its funding sources. We're
assigning the negative outlooks on GFMEGA, Engencap, and Findep,
and keeping our ratings on Mexarrends on CreditWatch negative. The
negative outlook reflects the increasing pressure on these
entities' funding and liquidity during the next 12 months.

"We expect the government-owned NBFIs to be more resilient to the
sector's difficulties due to the extraordinary and timely support
from the sovereign in case of financial distress. In our view,
these companies play a key role in developing the domestic housing
and agribusiness segments. Therefore, these entities will benefit
from extraordinary government support that could enhance their
capacity to meet financial commitments amid deteriorating economic
conditions. In this sense, we expect these NBFIs to have greater
stable funding alternatives than their domestic peers and to
preserve healthy liquidity profiles for the next 12 months.
Therefore, we're affirming our ratings and keeping the stable
outlooks on Infonavit and FEGA."

Mexarrend

S&P said, "On Aug. 5, 2022, we placed our ratings on Mexarrend on
CreditWatch negative. The firm's market debt maturity of $30
million is due Oct. 11, 2022. Mexarrend has various ways to get the
financial resources to pay it, but it has delayed using its
available credit facilities because it has focused on raising funds
through a secured deal, which isn't closed yet. Because the bond's
maturity is in 56 days, we view liability management strategy that
prioritizes Mexarrend's profitability as aggressive, especially
amid difficult conditions for Mexico's NBFI sector."

CreditWatch

S&P intends to resolve the negative CreditWatch listing in the next
90 days once it analyzes Mexarrend's liquidity position and
financial strategy. S&P will continue monitoring Mexarrend's
liquidity strategy and its willingness to retain funds in the
upcoming months.

Downside scenario. S&P could lower the ratings in the next 90 days
if Mexarrend's liquidity worsens. This could stem from cash
outflows beyond its base-case assumptions, or if the company faces
operating setbacks or risks in receiving funds to pay its
liabilities.

Upside scenario. S&P could remove the ratings from CreditWatch in
the next 90 days if the company strengthens its liquidity
strategy.

                                   TO          FROM
  Issuer Credit Rating        B-/Watch Neg/-    B/Watch Neg/-
  SACP                             b-               b
  Anchor                           bb-              bb
  Business Position           Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Capital and Earnings        Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Risk Position               Constrained (-2)  Constrained (-2)
  Funding and Liquidity          Moderate and Adequate(-1)
  Support                          0                 0
  GRE Support                      0                 0
  Group Support                    0                 0
  Sovereign Support                0                 0
  Additional Factors               0                 0


GFMEGA

Outlook

The negative outlook on GFMEGA reflects the adverse financial
conditions in the Mexican NBFI sector because of investors'
plummeting confidence, which could crimp GFMEGA's access to funding
sources and weaken its liquidity.

Downside scenario. S&P could remove its positive comparable ratings
analysis (CRA) adjustment to GFMEGA's stand-alone credit profile
(SACP) if its funding options narrow and its liquidity tightens.
S&P could also lower the ratings if its risk-adjusted capital (RAC)
ratio falls below 7% due to higher-than-expected loan
originations.

Upside scenario. S&P could revise the outlook to stable in the next
12 months if it sees a conservative liquidity management and if the
company maintains its funding sources despite the sector's
difficulties.

                                    TO             FROM

  Issuer Credit Rating        B+/Negative/-     BB-/Stable/-
  SACP                               b+             bb-
  Anchor                             bb-            bb
  Business Position           Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Capital and Earnings        Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Risk Position               Moderate (-1)     Moderate (-1)
  Funding and Liquidity         Moderate and Adequate(-1)
  Comparable rating analysis         +1             +1
  Support                            0              0
  GRE Support                        0              0
  Group Support                      0              0
  Sovereign Support                  0              0
  Additional Factors                 0              0


Engencap

Outlook

The negative outlook on Engencap reflects the adverse financing
conditions for the sector, which could limit Engencap's access to
new funding sources and hurt its liquidity position.

Downside scenario. S&P could lower its ratings in the next 12
months if Engencap's financial flexibility falters while higher
funding costs could narrow its funding sources and crimp its
liquidity. Additionally, a downgrade is possible if asset quality
metrics are weaker than expected, which could occur if the loan
portfolio doesn´t expand as expected.

Upside scenario. S&P could revise the outlook to stable in the next
12 months if Engencap maintains a stable and well-diversified
funding base that allows it to have sufficient liquidity and
financial flexibility to meet its needs even under stressed
conditions.

                                    TO             FROM

  Issuer Credit Rating        B+/Negative/-     BB-/Stable/-
  SACP                               b+             bb-
  Anchor                             bb-            bb
  Business Position           Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Capital and Earnings        Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Risk Position               Moderate (-1)     Moderate (-1)
  Funding and Liquidity         Adequate and Adequate (0)
  Comparable rating analysis         0              0
  Support                            0              0
  GRE Support                        0              0
  Group Support                      0              0
  Sovereign Support                  0              0
  Additional Factors                 0              0


Findep

Outlook

The negative outlook on Findep reflects the sector's strains, which
could hamper its funding profile and take a toll on liquidity. The
outlook also reflects S&P's forecast that NPAs and NCOs to average
19% with lower costs of risk stemming from a less risky loan
portfolio as AFI continues to outpace the Mexican operations.

Downside scenario. S&P said, "We could downgrade Findep in the next
12 months if funding conditions worsen, which could jeopardize
Findep's operations and liquidity. We could also lower the rating
if asset quality metrics erode beyond our expectations and result
in a combined nonperforming assets plus net charge-off ratio of
more than 20%."

Upside scenario. S&P could revise the outlook to stable in the next
12 months if operating conditions improve for NBFIs, allowing
Findep to refinance its concentrated funding profile for 2024,
alleviating its liquidity pressures, while maintaining a combined
nonperforming assets plus net charge-off ratio below 20%.

                                    TO             FROM

  Issuer Credit Rating        B+/Negative/-     B+/Stable/-
  SACP                               b              b+
  Anchor                             bb             bb
  Business Position           Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Capital and Earnings        Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Risk Position               Constrained (-2)  Constrained (-2)
  Funding and Liquidity       Moderate and      Adequate and
                               Adequate(-1)      Adequate (0)
  Support                            0              0
  GRE Support                        0              0
  Group Support                      0              0
  Sovereign Support                  0              0
  Additional Factors                 0              0


Infonavit

Outlook

The stable outlook on Infonavit mirrors that on Mexico and will
move in tandem with it. On the other hand, if Infonavit's SACP
weakens, S&P's ratings on the lender will likely remain unchanged
due to the extremely high likelihood of support from the government
in case of financial distress. However, S&P could revise downward
the entity's SACP if asset quality--NPAs, NPA coverage, or NCO
ratios--worsens to a greater degree than its expectations.

Downside scenario. A negative rating action on Mexico would result
on a similar action on Infonavit in the next two years. Moreover,
S&P could downgrade the entity if it revises its view of
Infonavit's extraordinary government support to a weaker category
while its SACP deteriorates beyond its base-case assumptions.

Upside scenario. S&P said, "We see a limited rating upside in the
next two years because the ratings on Mexico constrain those on
Infonavit. Therefore, if we upgrade Mexico in the coming 24 months,
we will take the same action on the company, as long as it
maintains its government-related entity status."

                                   TO               FROM
  Issuer Credit Rating       BBB/Stable/A-2     BBB/Stable/ A-2
  SACP                             bb+               bb+
  Anchor                           bbb-              bbb-
  Business Position          Adequate (0)       Adequate (0)
  Capital and Earnings       Adequate (0)       Adequate (0)
  Risk Position              Constrained (-2)   Constrained (-2)
  Funding and Liquidity      Strong and         Strong and
                              Strong (+1)        Strong (+1)
  Comparable rating analysis       0                 0
  Support                          +2                +2
  GRE Support                      +2                +2
  Group Support                    0                 0
  Sovereign Support                0                 0
  Additional Factors               0                 0


FEGA

Outlook

The stable outlook on FEGA reflects that on the sovereign and S&P's
view that the fund will maintain its significant role in the
agribusiness segment and that the government would support it if
needed. Therefore, the ratings on the entity will move in tandem
with those on Mexico.

Downside scenario. S&P said, "We could downgrade FEGA if we lower
the ratings on Mexico in the next 24 months or if we revise our
view of extraordinary government support to FEGA to a weaker
category. This could happen if its importance to the government
diminishes and we don´t expect extraordinary support in case of
financial strains. Also, we could lower the ratings if we revise
downward the firm's SACP by one notch. The latter could occur if
its loss ratio or liquidity deteriorates."

Upside scenario. S&P could upgrade FEGA if it upgrades Mexico in
the next 24 months.

                                     TO              FROM
  Issuer Credit Rating         BBB/Stable/A-2    BBB/Stable/A-2
  SACP                               bb+             bbb-
  Anchor                             bb-             bb
  Business Position            Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Capital and Earnings         Very Strong (2)   Very Strong (2)
  Risk Position                Adequate (0)      Adequate (0)
  Funding and Liquidity            Adequate and Strong (0)
  Support                            +2              +1
  GRE Support                        +2              +1
  Group Support                      0               0
  Sovereign Support                  0               0
  Additional Factors                 0               0


  Ratings List

                                      TO            FROM
  MEXARREND S.A.P.I. DE C.V.

  Issuer credit rating
   
   Global Scale Rating         B-/Watch Neg/--   B/Watch Neg/--
   National Scale         mxB+/Watch Neg/mxB  mxBB+/Watch Neg/mxB
   Senior Unsecured Debt       B-/Watch Neg      B/Watch Neg

  FINANCIERA INDEPENDENCIA S.A.B. DE C.V. SOFOM E.N.R.

  Issuer credit rating

   Global Scale Rating         B/Negative/--     B+/Stable/--
   Senior Unsecured Debt            B                B+
    
  OPERADORA DE SERVICIOS MEGA, S.A. DE C.V.,
  SOCIEDAD FINANCIERA DE OBJETO MÚLTIPLE, ENTIDAD REGULADA

  Issuer credit rating

   Global Scale Rating         B+/Negative/--    BB-/Stable/--
   National Scale         mxBBB/Negative/mxA-2  mxA-/Stable/mxA-2
   Senior Unsecured Debt            B+               BB-
   Short-term debt

   National Scale                 mxA-2             mxA-2

  ENGENCAP HOLDING S. DE R.L. DE C.V.

  Issuer credit rating

   Global Scale Rating         B+/Negative/--     BB-/Stable/--

  INSTITUTO DEL FONDO NACIONAL DE LA VIVIENDA PARA LOS   
  TRABAJADORES (INFONAVIT)

  Issuer credit rating

   Global Scale Rating         BBB/Stable/A-2    BBB/Stable/A-2
   National Scale         mxAAA/Stable/mxA-1+  mxAAA/Stable/mxA-1+

  FONDO ESPECIAL DE ASISTENCIA TECNICA Y GARANTIA PARA CREDITOS   
  AGROPECUARIOS (FEGA)

  Issuer credit rating

   Global Scale Rating         BBB/Stable/A-2    BBB/Stable/A-2




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VENEZUELA: Names Ambassador to Colombia, Seeks Normalization
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Buenos Aires Times reports that Venezuela and Colombia both named
new ambassadors to the other country, a first step in normalising
diplomatic relations after the recent inauguration of Colombian
President Gustavo Petro.

In Caracas, President Nicolas Maduro announced that former Foreign
Minister Felix Plasencia had requested his accreditation from the
Colombian government "and will soon be in Bogota," according to
Buenos Aires Times.

Petro, who was inaugurated as Colombia's first leftist president,
pledged during his campaign to immediately reverse a decision by
his predecessor, right-wing leader Ivan Duque, to sever diplomatic
ties with Venezuela, the report notes.

Duque, along with the United States, the European Union and others,
did not recognize Maduro's re-election in 2019 and instead backed
opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim that he is Venezuela's
interim president, the report relays.

"In response to the Venezuelan government, I have appointed an
ambassador who will (also) be tasked with normalizing diplomatic
relations between the two countries," Petro said in a video. The
Colombian ambassador in Caracas will be a former senator, Armando
Benedetti, the report discloses.

In addition to exchanging ambassadors, the normalisation process
will include the full reopening of the more than 2,000-kilometre
(1,200-mile) border between the two countries, which has been
largely closed to vehicles since 2015 - though it has been open to
pedestrians since late last year, the report says.

Caracas and Bogota have also announced intentions to restore
military relations, the report relays.

"We will continue step by step and at a safe pace to advance toward
the restoration and reconstruction of political, diplomatic and
commercial relations," Maduro said on state television, the report
adds.



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