[News] Venezuela: “The Theft of CITGO is the Robbery of the Century”

[Anti-Imperialist News]

resumen-english.org
<https://resumen-english.org/2023/05/venezuela-the-theft-of-citgo-is-the-robbery-of-the-century/>
Venezuela: “The Theft of CITGO is the Robbery of the Century”
By Geraldina Colotti on May 6, 2023


*There is much confusion about the selling off of Citgo; this article
clarifies how this new form of lawfare is an escalation of the empire’s
economic war against revolutionary Venezuela . – editorial*

Venezuela is mobilizing against the U.S. decision to auction the shares of
the parent company of the refinery Citgo Petroleum Corp, PDV Holding, the
main asset of the Bolivarian Republic abroad. A way for the company to be
seized by creditors, after “negotiations” with those whom the US recognizes
as “proxies”: the gang of the self-proclaimed Juan Guaidó or its
derivatives, who had been allowed to access funds blocked by the illegal
unilateral coercive measures, imposed on Venezuela.

The Treasury Department had so far “protected” Citgo from creditors, but
now, to tighten the noose even more on the Bolivarian revolution, the hawks
in Washington have once again blocked the possibility of a change of
course, proposed by the International Conference in Bogota, which had
Venezuela as its theme.

At that meeting, the 20 delegations, representing three continents, had
agreed on a series of “recommendations”, to be presented to both the
Bolivarian government and that part of the opposition which is in the
Unitary Platform, in order to renew the dialogue interrupted in Mexico. At
the center, the end of the “sanctions”, a priority condition set by the
Bolivarian government.

The conference, preceded by a round of international contacts by Colombian
President Gustavo Petro, could not have been organized without the approval
of the Biden administration. However, as a sign of the internal conflict
and confusion that reigns in U.S. foreign policy, the show of the former
self-proclaimed, Juan Guaidó, was allowed. A character disowned by his own
cronies, whose strings, however, still need to be pulled to the end.

After crossing the border “on foot”, as he himself declared, Guaidó
attended the conference in Colombia, uninvited, and was then accompanied to
the airport, where he was taken by his gringo godfathers to Miami. The
former deputy protested for being expelled from Colombia.

In truth – denounced President Maduro – his objective was “to help
coordinate the theft of the Citgo company”, formalized with General License
42, issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) which authorizes
a sector of the extreme right wing to deal with the debts of the Bolivarian
Republic and of the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Maduro explained that, with a document dated April 7, the Biden
administration delivered “all the assets of the Citgo company, all of
Venezuela’s money abroad, to a group of opposition political parties,
belonging to the Unitary Platform, so that they can sell them, to
negotiate, to do and undo”. Washington -reiterated the President- “is
carrying out one of the greatest plundering that has ever been done against
any country in the world”, and accused Biden of “stabbing the Bogotá
conference in the back”, going where “not even Trump had dared”. In fact,
the timing of the decision indicates that everything was already prepared
before the Petro Conference, which ended on April 26.

A provocation to which the Bolivarian government has responded firmly, both
internationally and domestically. During a meeting of the Economic and
Social Council of the United Nations, in connection with UN Goal 16, which
seeks to “promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies”, Venezuela’s
alternate permanent representative to the UN, Joaquín Pérez Ayestarán,
denounced the “sanctions” imposed by the US and the theft of Citgo.

The Bolivarian Government “will not recognize any negotiation or payment
agreement with any creditor that is not led by the Venezuelan State”, said
the Vice-President, Delcy Rodríguez, when explaining the mechanism by which
the “illegal expropriation” of the Venezuelan company Citgo Petroleum
Corporation is being carried out. The decision, which constitutes a
violation of public and private international law, as well as Venezuelan
law, authorizes members of the defunct National Assembly of 2015 to carry
out transactions to negotiate the debt of the national government, PDVSA or
any institution in which the republic owns with a shareholding equal to or
greater than 50%.

“There is no law on the planet that OFAC license 42 has not violated,” said
Rodríguez from the Miraflores Palace, accompanied by Foreign Minister Yván
Gil and Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea. The Vice President recalled the
programs of this decision, anticipated by another OFAC provision, issued on
January 9, 2023, which allowed the National Assembly of 2015, “the power to
deal with any person, institution or company in the United States”. And, in
fact, on March 15, former Deputy Dinora Figuera, of the Primero Justicia
party, met with officials of the State Department “to establish the staging
of this flagrant and vulgar robbery of the century”.

Rodríguez denounced that Washington, assuming the role of victim, intends
to ignore the decision of the Delaware Court of Justice, which allows
Venezuelan debt holders to seize the company Citgo. Among them are:
ConocoPhillips, Crystallex, Rusoro, Gold Reserve, Gold Reserve, Koch
Minerals , Owens Illinois, ACL1 Investments, Northrop Grumman Systems.
Against OFAC General License 42 – said Rodríguez – “according to
instructions from the head of State, Nicolás Maduro, the National
Government will exercise all actions in defense of our interests, our
rights and the patrimony of Venezuelans”.

Citgo, headquartered in Houston, is the seventh largest refinery in the
United States. It has plants in Louisiana, Illinois and Texas and is valued
at more than $13 billion. Robert Pincus, a court-appointed official who met
with the Treasury and Justice Departments, urged the court to hurry “to
take advantage of Citgo’s recent financial and operational performance and
the current state of the refining industry.”

Canadian miner Crystallex International is asking PDV Holding for US$970
million. Other creditors with at least $2.6 billion in claims against
Venezuela have received conditional approval to join the lawsuit. Pincus
proposed to begin the sale process on September 5 with the highest bid
received by the court until June 2024. The court entered into an agreement
with investment banker Evercore to gauge market demand and conduct the sale.

Citgo – said Maduro during the May 1st march – generates annual revenues in
excess of 1 billion dollars and has more than 10,000 gas stations in the
United States. Resources which belong to the people and which, had they
been available, would have been destined to increase the income of the
workers. For this reason, the Venezuelan parliament, the legitimate one,
approved, in initial discussion, the bill for the protection of assets
abroad.

“We are going to apply the Extinction of Ownership Law to all those
involved in this robbery of the republic”, said the president of the
National Assembly (NA), Jorge Rodríguez, presiding over the parliamentary
session, which will continue this week. The Law of Extinction of Domain
provides for the possibility of seizure and redistribution of assets
resulting from corruption. A crime considered “treason to the Fatherland”,
which is being prosecuted on a large scale after the discovery of a
gigantic network that has stolen public money for about 23 billion dollars.

The legitimate President of the National Assembly has urged its application
to 72 former deputies usurping public functions. The State will not
recognize any transaction involving Venezuelan assets. This is provided for
in Article 138 of the Bolivarian Constitution, according to which “any
usurped authority is without effect and its acts are null and void”. With
the usual polemic vis, Jorge Rodriguez demanded the political leader,
Henrique Capriles Radonski, to order Dinora Figuera, a militant of his
party, “to return all the money she stole”.

The State Department has in fact allowed the extinct National Assembly of
2015 – which this year, after having withdrawn confidence from Guaidó,
continued the electoral farce, entrusting the “management” to a triumvirate
of fugitives from justice, led by Figuera -, the bank account of some 347
million. Venezuelan money frozen in US banks, disbursed to the opposition
since 2019, when Juan Guaidó self-proclaimed himself “interim president”.
However, since the removal of his imperial invention, in January 2023, the
new “management” of the illegal AN had not been able to access the loot,
due to the “directive vacuum”.

The problem was making the gang nervous, and they were pressuring their
American godfathers to grant them access to “protected” resources abroad.
And this lucrative signature assignment perhaps also explains Guaidó’s
flight to Miami, perhaps to negotiate a good “compensation”. They gave him
a sugar gift by making him appear at a public rally, during which he
thanked “the Republican senators for their commitment to democracy”.

In that context, the former governor of Florida, Rick Scott, introduced him
as “the presidential candidate of Voluntad Popular in the primaries”, and
added: “I hope that all my colleagues and the White House will meet with
the brave leaders of the opposition and align themselves with the
Venezuelan people, to continue to be their voice against the nefarious
Maduro regime”. A group of activists protested against Guaidó with shouts
of “corrupt” and “murderer.” He stammered, “Let them go to Venezuela to
disrupt Nicolás Maduro, to see what happens to them.” And, as the police
led the protesters away, he continued to brag about the wonders of U.S.
“democracy.”

“The United States confuses the Bolivarian government’s willingness to
dialogue with weakness,” said the Vice Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies,
William Castillo, during the program “A Pulso”. Illustrating the research
work carried out by the Observatory of Sanctions, Castillo underlined how
the fluctuating attitude of the US is due to the distorted vision given by
the Venezuelan opposition, making it believe that “Maduro is falling, and
sanctions must be increased”.

A communiqué from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our
America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) also called the State Department’s
decision to “expropriate Citgo through the illegitimate General License No.
42”, a new aggression against the people and government of Venezuela, a
“consequence of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the government
of the United States, which attempt against the sovereignty of that
country”. Therefore, the Bolivarian Alliance made a call to the
international community to demand the cessation of the “sanctions”, and
expressed its support to “all legal measures undertaken by the Venezuelan
government for the protection of its assets”.

During his visit to Spain, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, has once
again denounced the effects of the “sanctions” on the Venezuelan people.
After recalling that Colombia and Venezuela “are practically the same
people”, Petro said that, due to the “sanctions”, Venezuelan society has
gone from “living well and having access to the best whiskey in the world,
to not having a plate to eat on. And this -he added- not the opposition to
Maduro, is the reason why many emigrate”. Petro also confirmed Washington’s
plans to invade Venezuela, discussed with his predecessor, which provoked
an angry reaction from members of Duque’s former government.

But, this May, Venezuela remembered the third anniversary of Operation
Gideon, when a group of mercenaries sent by the United States and trained
by Colombia attempted to invade Venezuela with a plan to kill Maduro and
the entire Chavista high command. During a public act, the Vice President
of the PSUV, Diosdado Cabello, paid tribute to the bravery of the people
who stopped the invasion: “Revolutionary strength and unity -said the
Captain- are the greatest guarantee of victory of the Bolivarian
revolution”.

One of those mercenaries, a former Marine, could be the object of an
exchange with the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, kidnapped by the United
States, whose health is deteriorating day by day. The Venezuelan government
also reiterated it on the occasion of the Bogota Conference. But the United
States has responded with this new act of imperial arrogance.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – Buenos Aires
<https://www.resumenlatinoamericano.org/2023/05/06/venezuela-el-fascismo-se-toma-citgo-maduro-es-el-robo-del-siglo/>
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