Venezuela Missing Ukraine’s Ace-in-the-Hole Allies

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is learning that allies matter in the bond market.

Protests against shortages of basic goods, rising crime and the world’s fastest inflation that have left more than a dozen dead this month are threatening Maduro’s grip on power and caused borrowing costs to soar to the highest in the developing world. The likelihood Venezuela will repudiate its debt within five years reached 65 percent in the swaps market, higher than even for Ukraine, which is trying to fend off a default after President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted last week.