The sector vice-president of Economy, Tarek El Aissami, commented on the negotiations taking place between Colombia and Venezuela in relation to Monómeros, a company that was the object of a process of criminalization by a board appointed by a deputy who proclaimed himself president of Venezuela, according to investigations and testimonies.
“That is an asset of Venezuela; he should never and should never be in hands other than his rightful owner, which is Pequiven”, he said during a meeting with journalists held on August 31st.
In that meeting, El Aissami elaborated on the complaint filed with the Prosecutor’s Office the day before (August 30) about a PDVSA indebtedness that meant the disbursement of 4.85 billion dollars, an operation classified by the Oil Minister as “a mega -robbery orchestrated by Rafael Ramírez and others no less corrupt”.
But once El Aissami detailed the details of that operation carried out in February 2012 while President Hugo Chávez was ill, he answered other questions.
“Giving us back an asset that belongs to Venezuelans, I think it is within the behavior of a Government that is in agreement with the four fingers of forehead; and we aspire and hope that this happens”, he said, alluding to the inaugural government of Gustavo Petro.
We asked him if it was possible to reverse the ruling issued by the Washington State Court that ordered Venezuela to pay the oil company ConocoPhillips 8.7 million dollars and the Minister chose a phrase from the poet Eduardo Galeano to describe such a situation: “we are in a world upside down ”.
The Minister said that in that lawsuit they did not give the opportunity to the government of President Nicolás Maduro to defend itself before that Court, because they “recognize a kind of ghost, a nonexistent government,” he said.
“Until the wisdom of the United States government is restored and they do not recognize the legitimacy of the government of Nicolás Maduro, anything is not possible. We are facing an imperial loquetera”, he commented.
ConocoPhillip sued Venezuela eight years ago, because then President Chavez modified the terms of the so-called Oil Opening promoted by Luis Giusti and consequently increased royalties from 1% to 16% and taxes from 16% to 34%.
