LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Venezuela creditors demand payment on defaulted $1.5 billion bond.

President Nicolas Maduro’s government and state-owned companies owe nearly $8 billion in unpaid interest and principal following this year’s default on bonds amid a hyperinflationary collapse of the country’s once-wealthy socialist economy.

Five investment funds have demanded that Venezuela pay the principal and outstanding interest on its 2034 bond VE018389347=, said Mark Stancil of Washington-based law firm Robbins Russell, who represents the group. It is the first step in a potential legal campaign by creditors to recover their investments.

The decision could trigger similar efforts by investors holding $60 billion in outstanding bonds issued by Venezuela and state oil company PDVSA. That could pave the way for a creditor dispute similar to the one that roiled Argentina for a decade.

You don’t want to be the last creditor in that line.