A new legal movement in a New York court reveals a possible collaboration between the lawyers of the Government of Delcy Rodríguez and those of the opposition that controlled the National Assembly in 2015. The key is that these opponents, represented by Juan Guaidó, took control of some of Venezuela’s assets in the United States in 2019, when Donald Trump was president and did not recognize Nicolás Maduro as president.
Representatives of both sides asked Judge Sarah Netburn to suspend for 45 days a case in which creditors seek to seize funds linked to the state oil company PDVSA in the United States, while it is determined who will represent Venezuela’s interests. The judge has granted them until May 21 to facilitate the coordination of legal defenses.
The results of this movement remain to be seen, but analysts warn that it is a move that should be paid attention to. If it advances, it would reveal a legal collaboration of hitherto irreconcilable sectors that would improve the Venezuelan position in the litigation.
Washington considers Delcy Rodríguez the “only head of state” of Venezuela, with the capacity to act on behalf of the country, in a letter sent to the Department of Justice. According to the agency ReutersAfter this recognition, Rodríguez is preparing to take charge of the boards of directors of PDVSA subsidiaries in the United States.
Venezuela’s most important asset in the United States is the Citgo refinery, an American fuel production and refining company. But it has been under threat from around twenty international creditors, including large and medium-sized companies, who are demanding $21.3 billion from Venezuela for expropriations and non-payments during the times of Chavismo.
To collect, the creditors asked to auction the refinery and a Delaware judge approved its sale last November. This transaction has not been completed because it requires authorizations from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department, which since 2019 prevented Chavismo from appointing those responsible for Citgo. The office authorized, however, the appointments that Guaidó made, when he served as self-proclaimed acting president. The bondholders of the Venezuelan debt have also wanted to take advantage of this and other assets.
The new reality after January 3, when the United States captured Maduro during a military intervention, represents a new scenario for the dozen legal disputes and debts that the years of greater Chavismo controls left the country with. Trump has outlined a transition leveraged on oil and it is precisely in that sector where the greatest number of changes are taking place, after the full reestablishment of relations between Washington and Caracas. Trump has recognized Rodríguez and has even removed her from the list of sanctioned Chavista officials.
For now, the most evident transformations are the oil and mining licenses, as well as the new hydrocarbon laws – already approved – and mining laws – under discussion – that have raised new expectations for foreign investors.
A group of environmental and human rights organizations warned a few days ago that oil and mining licenses can “become a global mechanism for illegal gold laundering, by allowing the commercialization of minerals from areas controlled by criminal networks.” Gold, in particular, is extracted in Venezuela amid serious human rights violations, smuggling and corruption, according to reports from organizations such as the United Nations and Transparency.
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