"The government may be moving to repatriate reserves ahead of arbitration case rulings to avoid an “attachment risk” that could freeze international assets, Boris Segura, a New York- based strategist at Nomura Securities said in a research note."1

ORLY? What's the total value of a settlement that rules 100% in favor of... what... two or three junior mining companies? And for this you put your entire bond market at risk?

May have spoke too soon on that one. From Today's Bloomberg:

Of 17 arbitration cases pending against Venezuela in the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, at least three of them are over mining ventures, includingCrystallex International Corp. (KRY), a Canadian gold producer whose Las Cristinas mine was taken over by the government in February.

ebear