Venezuela denounces the illegal order of a United States judge that establishes a set of procedures for an alleged judicial sale of the shares of the Venezuelan state company Citgo Petroleumbelonging to PDV Holding of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
Through a statement, the Venezuelan State indicates that the decision is vitiated by arbitrariness and veiled by bias by the judge of the District of Delaware of the United States of America, Leonard Stark, who – the document highlights – is aligned with the company Crystallex International Corp. (Crystallex), and is part of the international framework, which responds to the hegemonic power of the United States.
It also mentions that it constitutes a new escalation of illegal maneuvers, in complicity with Juan Guaido and José Ignacio Hernández, “who seek to justify the looting and dispossession of the assets of the Venezuelan nation to be delivered to foreign powers.”
Decision on Citgo, a dangerous precedent
It also points out that the decision sets a “dangerous precedent that could represent the beginning of a dark period, related to the vulnerable scheme of foreign investment in US territory.”
In this sense, it highlights that the measure ignores the right of a sovereign State over its assets and patrimonial interests, “to the detriment of the interests of the countries and international investment sectors.”
Below is the full text of the statement:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces before the country and before the international community, the illegal order issued by the judge of the District of Delaware of the United States of America, Leonard Stark, which establishes a set of procedures for an alleged judicial sale of the shares of the Venezuelan state company Citgo Petroleum, belonging to PDV Holding, a company owned by Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA).
The Venezuelan State categorically rejects this reckless decision, vitiated by arbitrariness and veiled with bias by the judge who dictates it, who, aligned with the company Crystallex International Corp. (Crystallex), is part of the international network, which responds to the hegemonic and imperial power of the United States of America, thus deepening its multiform war and its intention of brazen and indiscriminate plundering of the assets of the Venezuelan people.
This irate decision, in violation of international law, constitutes a new escalation of illegal maneuvers, in complicity with the usurpers Juan Guaidó and José Ignacio Hernández, who act in collusion with the US authorities and through procedural fraud, in which the nation the presence of its legitimate representatives, intend to justify the looting and dispossession of the assets of the Venezuelan nation to be handed over to foreign powers.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela alerts the international community about the execution of actions of this nature, since they set a dangerous precedent that could represent the beginning of a dark period, related to the vulnerable scheme of foreign investment in US territory, in which it ignores the right of a sovereign State over its assets and patrimonial interests, all of this to the detriment of the interests of the countries and international investment sectors.
Venezuela will never give up the legitimate defense of its rights and reserves the right actions before the international bodies and mechanisms that assist it, with the firm commitment to rescue and preserve the heritage of the Republic, whose sole owner is the Venezuelan people.
Caracas, October 12, 2022.
