Venezuelan opposition lost CITGO: now they're worried about the elections
Venezuelanalysis
This is a story that only makes sense if the Biden government is theater of the absurd directed by Donald J. Trump, and CITGO is an off-world corporation owned by space Nazis.
Elliot Abrams and other Satanists are scrambling to postpone the sale of CITGO to non-Venezuelan corporations, arguing that it will hurt the opposition parties in upcoming elections on July 28.
President Trump’s recognition of the losers in Venezuela’s 2019 elections began a chain of events which lead to the country losing CITGO.
The actions of the Venezuelan opposition, which has held control of CITGO since 2019 after the Trump administration recognized the self-proclaimed “interim government” led by Juan Guaidó, have come under severe scrutiny for jeopardizing the US-based subsidiary of state oil company PDVSA. - Venezuelanalysis
Venezuela’s fake government in exile never showed up in court in Delaware to defend Venezuela’s interests in CITGO against creditors, and this resulted in a default judgment.
This is similar to what happened to Alex Jones, only Jones did show up in court, and Judge Maya Guerra unlawfully claimed he was in default anyway.
Now that the court is poised to feed Venezuela’s most valuable foreign asset to the sharks, establishment figures like Elliot Abrams and Debbie Wasserman Schultz are scrambling to postpone the auction, arguing that it will help Venezuela’s ruling PSUV in the elections.
Another thing that doesn’t make sense if one believes there is a President Biden is that he hasn’t lifted Trump’s economic sanctions. If, as conservatives claim, Biden is a socialist — and Venezuela is truly ruled by a socialist government — why wouldn’t he lift the sanctions?
Presidential candidate Antonio Ecarri wrote a letter to Biden requesting that any final CITGO decision be postponed until the country’s new government takes office in January 2025. [He] argued that the existing sanctions policy and non-recognition of the Maduro government make it impossible to engage with creditors and restructure debt.
Two explanations remain, and they aren’t mutually exclusive. One, CITGO is not what people think it is and the sale isn’t either. Two, Elliott Abrams and Debbie Wasserman Schulz are being played by actors, and they are raising the issue in order to expose the opposition as traitors — just in case this fact has escaped the notice of anyone in Venezuela.
Venezuelan Opposition Tries to Stall CITGO Auction to Avoid Election Backlash
By Ricardo Vaz - June 9, 2024
Caracas, June 9, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s hardline opposition has lobbied U.S. officials to intervene in an ongoing court-mandated sale of the Caribbean nation’s most important foreign asset, CITGO.
According to Reuters and Bloomberg, opposition members and CITGO’s ad-hoc board have held meetings and reached out to members of Congress and the Biden White House asking Washington to halt or postpone the ongoing auction.
Venezuela’s U.S.-backed opposition is allegedly concerned that the imminent loss of CITGO will lead to a significant loss of votes in the upcoming July 28 presidential elections.
In October 2022, Delaware District Judge Leonard P. Stark set in motion the auction of shares belonging to PDV Holding (PDVH), CITGO’s parent company, to satisfy a number of international arbitration awards. The process was originally launched by Canadian miner Crystallex.
The actions of the Venezuelan opposition, which has held control of CITGO since 2019 after the Trump administration recognized the self-proclaimed “interim government” led by Juan Guaidó, have come under severe scrutiny for jeopardizing the U.S.-based subsidiary of state oil company PDVSA.
The parallel administration did not show up in court and allowed ConocoPhillips to win a default ruling to enforce a US $8.5 billion award. US courts then allowed ConocoPhillips and several other corporations to attach their claims to the Delaware auction with a so-called “alter ego” judgment that was based on public actions and statements by Guaidó and associates.
The parallel administration did not show up in court and allowed ConocoPhillips to win a default ruling to enforce a US $8.5 billion award.
As a result, CITGO’s liabilities ballooned significantly past its present $10-13 billion valuation, making its ownership all but certain to change hands should the court-ordered sale proceed. The second round of bidding closes on Tuesday and Stark is scheduled to issue a final decision in mid-July.
The U.S.-backed opposition’s electoral concerns have garnered support in Washington. Elliott Abrams, who served as Special Envoy for Venezuela under the Trump administration, wrote that the auction’s timing is “unbelievably stupid” and “a gift” to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“The Biden administration can jump in and notify the court that the timing it adopted before Maduro set the election date for July 28 is now wrong, inappropriate, damaging to U.S. foreign policy,” Abrams argued in a blog post published by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Similarly, a bipartisan group of lawmakers penned a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the administration to “bar the continuation of the sale process through its economic powers.”
The signatories, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz, María Elvira Salazar and Bob Menéndez, called for “immediate action” on this “critical and time-sensitive issue.”
The final sale will require U.S. approval, but the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has pledged a “favorable licensing policy.”
Presidential candidate Antonio Ecarri also wrote a letter to Biden requesting that any final CITGO decision be postponed until the country’s new government takes office in January 2025. The center-right candidate argued that the existing sanctions policy and non-recognition of the Maduro government make it impossible to engage with creditors and restructure debt.
For its part, the Maduro administration has maintained that the imminent loss of CITGO will constitute “the theft of the century” and pledged to bring its case before all available instances.
The present CITGO board, which was appointed by the since-extinct “interim government” and answers to no legitimate Venezuelan authority, has protested that bids have fallen short of the company’s valuation and proposed an alternative payment method.
The auction process will pay creditors on a “first come, first serveed basis,” based on when the court approved their writs. Crystallex ($1.0 billion), Tidewater ($80 million), ConocoPhillips ($1.3 billion) and O-I Glass ($700 million) stand at the top of the list.
ConocoPhillips has recently moved to have its $1.3 billion award by the International Chamber of Commerce recognized in Trinidad and Tobago. The oil giant might attempt to seize natural gas proceeds owed to Venezuela from joint projects as compensation.
ConocoPhillips likewise has a second $8.5 billion award at the CITGO auction that has since surpassed $10 billion with accrued interest. The company was rumored to be considering using its claims instead of cash in a potential bid for CITGO.
With the bidding deadline approaching, corporate actors are reportedly raising their interest in CITGO’s refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas. According to a Reuters source, some consortia have expressed interest in submitting bids with the ultimate goal of only keeping the Corpus Christi facilities.
The 167,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity refinery is reportedly seen as having potential to grow. The nearby location of shale fields and pipelines is also a significant advantage. Koch Industries-owned Flint Hills, which owns a refinery bordering CITGO’s, is allegedly considering submitting a bid or joining a consortium.
Apart from Corpus Christi, PDVSA’s US subsidiary owns refineries in Lemont (Illinois) and Lake Charles (Louisiana). The three installations have a combined processing capacity of 769,000 bpd. CITGO additionally owns a network of more than 4,000 gas stations, mostly located on the U.S. east coast.