BAD BONDS

Goldman Sachs Confirms Buying Venezuelan Bonds

Amid uproar from Maduro’s opposition.

Goldman Sachs confirms having purchased Venezuelan bonds after being called out by the country’s opposition and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for financing President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Opposition leaders accused the bank of financing a "dictatorship" as anti-Maduro protests have been gaining steam, and often turning violent, in recent months. “We bought these bonds, which were issued in 2014, on the secondary market from a broker and did not interact with the Venezuelan government,” the bank wrote in a statement on Monday. “We recognize that the situation is complex and evolving and that Venezuela is in crisis. We agree that life there has to get better, and we made the investment in part because we believe it will." Goldman Sachs did not disclose the price of the bonds or the amount purchased, but the Wall Street Journal reported that the ban had purchased $2.8 billion in bonds issued by the state oil company PDVSA.