Deputy Minister William Castillo points out Juan Guaidó as responsible for the dispossession of CITGO

Published at: 18/01/2024 12:02 PM

This Wednesday, the Deputy Minister of Anti-Blockade Policy of the Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs, William Castillo, identified Juan Guaidó and the economist Francisco Rodríguez as ringleaders of the mafia that robbed Venezuela of CITGO.

During the closing of the 1st 3R.NETS Anti-Blockade Seminar, which was held in the National Assembly, Castillo said that the Bolivarian Government has been solvent with its debts abroad; but that, since 2017, it has been unable to continue paying due to Executive Order 13692 issued by the administration of former US President Barack Obama, which prohibited the Venezuelan State's transactions with banks .

He recalled that, since 2008, the Venezuelan State had been canceling its debt to the Canadian mining company Crystallex, since it had lost the case before the Court of the Southern District of New York; but since the publication of the Obama Decree , it could no longer continue to pay.

Castillo cited the problem with Crystaller as an example of the obstacles that the Venezuelan State has encountered when it comes to canceling its debts. He said that, in addition to the financial siege, there is also the installation of CITGO's ad hod directive during Guaidó's interim term.

He said that, weeks after Guaidó proclaimed himself, on January 5, 2019, the operation to dispossess CITGO began and took control of the oil company.

He revealed that by ignoring President Nicolás Maduro and when the US courts recognize AN-2015, they begin to stop solving CITGO problems and do not attend the hearings, so the defense of the Venezuelan State was left in limbo before the US justice system.

Due to the judicial abandonment, Castillo identified Guaidó, along with other former parliamentarians, as responsible for having lost the Republic to the creditors of CITGO, owned by all Venezuelans.

He said that CITGO is the seventh most important oil company in the United States, has three refineries, 4,200 service stations and is worth 13 billion dollars.

For her part, the deputy Tania Díaz (PSUV/National), pointed out that they cover themselves in the guise of politicians and are not because they are part of a national criminal mafia connected with an international one.

He added that not only do they want to steal assets abroad, they also want to steal the future of Venezuelan youth by promoting unilateral coercive measures.

 

AN