“Unfortunately, the Republic has stopped paying on these bonds,” Mr. Stancil, an attorney at Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber, said of Venezuela in an email. “My clients have therefore exercised their contractual rights to protect their interests.” The investor group is the first to demand full payment of Venezuelan debt since the country began spiraling into widespread default late last year. U.S. sanctions, a paucity of seizable assets, and the abundance of creditors have made investors reticent to push for payment, which will likely to touch off a complicated and costly legal battle. Mitu Gulati, a Duke University economics professor who has closely followed the Venezuelan default, said the move to force payment will prompt holders of other Venezuelan debt to organize and follow suit. “In a world in which you have limited assets, it’s whoever grabs the assets first,” he said. A spokesman for Venezuela’s Information […]