Venezuela condemns US court decision to seize CITGO as "barbaric theft"
Venezuela has denounced a US court ruling that permits the forced sale of CITGO Petroleum, calling it a "barbaric dispossession" of national assets. The government vows not to recognize the sale, blaming the opposition and Washington.
The Venezuelan government has issued a fierce condemnation of a United States court decision that greenlights the forced sale of CITGO Petroleum, the country's most valuable foreign asset. Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez labeled the ruling a "vulgar and barbaric dispossession," framing it as the latest episode in a campaign of US aggression aimed at stripping Venezuela of its sovereign resources.
A "Fraudulent Process" and Exclusion from Defense
In an official statement, Rodríguez argued that the Venezuelan state and its state oil company PDVSA were "intentionally and illegally excluded" from the legal proceedings, denied the right to defend themselves under the "crude excuse" of the US government's refusal to recognize the administration of President Nicolás Maduro. She denounced the judicial process as "fraudulent" and declared that the Maduro government "does not and will not recognize the sale of Citgo," placing blame squarely on the Venezuelan opposition for the asset's loss.
The Debt and the Path to Auction
CITGO, the Houston-based refining subsidiary of PDVSA, is burdened by over $20 billion in debt stemming from expropriations under the late President Hugo Chávez and later debt issuances. Control of the company was handed to a board appointed by the US-backed opposition in 2019. The court's recent decision allows the auction process to proceed, and the company was preliminarily awarded to a subsidiary of Elliott Investment Management over the weekend. The final sale has been delayed by a US Treasury protection license, which is set to expire on December 20.
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Political Repercussions and Escalating Tensions
In response to the court's move, Venezuela's ruling-party-controlled National Assembly announced it would propose revoking the citizenship of five opposition figures it identifies as the "main leaders" of what it calls the "gigantic theft of Citgo." This dramatic step signals a further hardening of positions and underscores how the fate of the refiner has become a central battleground in the protracted political and economic conflict between Caracas and Washington, with Venezuela's last major international economic lifeline now in jeopardy.
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