Barclays' Security Advisers Cancelled A Planned Trip To Venezuela Because It Was 'Unwise'

Investing in Venezuela is a risky proposition given the country's crashing economy, a government riddled in corruption, an inflation rate that could reach 720 percent in 2016 and a country-wide shortage of food.

According to Bloomberg, Barclays recently cancelled a trip with money managers to Venezuela after its security team said it is "unwise" to visit the country without "significantly enhanced" safety measures.

The fund managers were likely traveling to the country for a first-hand visit and evaluate the suitability of the government's 23 percent yield. Bloomberg noted the team of managers were to meet with a top economic aide to the country's President Nicolas Maduro as well as leaders of the opposition and local oil industry executives and experts.

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JPMorgan successfully visited the country (and returned safely) on a client trip several weeks ago. Bank of America has a trip scheduled for next month. However, Barclays told its partners that the trip is too great of a risk but the bank remains open to future visits to the country.

"I'll go to Nigeria, I was in Turkey right before the coup, but Venezuela's just a little too tense," Bloomberg quoted Ray Zucaro, the chief investment officer of emerging-markets hedge fund RVX Asset Management and the husband of a Venezuelan native as saying. "It's just a bad spot."

Finally, Bloomberg noted that despite an 18 percentage point spread between Venezuela's government debt and the emerging-market average, the country has managed to "scrounge together" capital to remain current on its foreign debt and the government has pledged to continue doing so.