CITGO headquarters in Houston, Texas. File photo.
This Wednesday, Nicolás Maduro demanded the return of CITGO Petroleum Corporation—better known as CITGO—subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) in the United States.
“The CITGO company is owned by Venezuela and it is one of the vital elements to continue advancing the negotiations that CITGO returns to Venezuela, completely, and the dividends that CITGO has accumulated are released to Venezuelan accounts for social investment,” said the head of state at a press conference with national and international media.
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President Maduro requested that Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the National Government Delegation for Dialogue, to demand CITGO’s immediate return.
“Jorge Rodríguez,” began Maduro, “as head of the delegation, must demand that CITGO return, and the dividends of all these years that CITGO has accumulated as a productive commercial company.”
In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro noted that the company has accumulated approximately $4 billion in dividends between 2019 and this current year.
“The CITGO company that belongs to Venezuela and everything that it has accumulated is for Venezuelans,” he said.
“They have it that you return without creditors, and everything that CITGO produces belongs to Venezuela and not to creditors,” he added.
Regarding the second partial agreement—signed last weekend in Mexico with the opposition sector that is part of Platform U—President Maduro pointed out that the first meeting of the Monitoring and Verification Commission is expected to take place this Thursday.
“We are in the phase of verifying that the agreements are fulfilled… Tomorrow there will be the first meeting of the monitoring commission, the release of the assets will be determined,” said President Maduro. “We aspire that it be released immediately and that all social programs begin to be financed.”
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This Saturday, the government delegation for dialogue and the opposition sector signed the Second Partial Agreement for the Protection of the Venezuelan People in Mexico.
This second partial agreement aims at the recovery of legitimate assets, property of the Venezuelan state—currently being blocked by the illegal sanctions against the country—in order to address social needs and attend to the problems of public services.
After the meeting ended, Jorge Rodríguez indicated that with the signing of this agreement, Venezuela will recover more than $3 billion, which will be used as funds for social programs.
(Ultimas Noticias) by Ariadna Eljuri
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/FV/SL
