The payments due this week included a $28 million coupon payment for an Electricidad de Caracas bond that matures in 2018, $81 million for a Petróleos de Venezuela bond due in 2027, $41 million for PdVSA 2037, $97 million for a Venezuelan sovereign bond due in 2019 and $103 million for a 2024 Venezuela bond.

for 5000 // Venezuelan bonds sold off again this week, after the government fell behind on debt payments for at least the third time over the past year. The country is also holding 23 state governor elections on Sunday, which some investors worry could bring another wave of political instability and market volatility. Venezuela’s benchmark bond index fell 7% in the four days after Monday’s close. The government didn’t make interest payments totaling $349 million due this week, according to two brokers. Its failure to pay further rattled bondholders already worried that the economically ravaged country is teetering on the edge of default. Venezuela owes a total of $4.4 billion that is due over the next three weeks, including the payments due this week, an amount that many analysts believe could drain the country’s dwindling foreign-reserve holdings. “It seems they’re saving every penny for these two big payments,” said Russ Dallen, managing partner at Caracas Capital. A Venezuelan government spokesman couldn’t be immediately reached for comment. Venezuela is in a deep recession, suffering a shortage of imported food and medicine and is increasingly stretched for cash with prices for oil, its main export, still at half the level of three years ago. The country has fallen behind on payments at least two other times over the past several months. In September, the government was five days late for a $185 million coupon. Late last year, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, its state-run oil company, missed $404 million in coupon payments on three bonds for several days. The payments due this week included a $28 million coupon payment for an Electricidad de Caracas bond that matures in 2018, $81 million for a Petróleos de Venezuela bond due in 2027, $41 million for PdVSA 2037, $97 million for a Venezuelan sovereign bond due in 2019 and $103 million for a 2024 Venezuela bond. On the political side, Venezuela’s elections this weekend for state governors is also adding to the country’s uncertainty. An opposition coalition is expected to win an overwhelming majority of positions, according to Eurasia Group, stirring bond market fears about the government’s ability and willingness to service its debt under a weakened Socialist government. Write to Carolyn Cui at carolyn.cui@wsj.com and Julie Wernau at