Paraguayan president Mario Abdo speaking at the 6th CELAC summit. File photo.
After the president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, stated that his participation in the CELAC Summit of Heads of State and Government did not imply his recognition of the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, several reactions emerged, including that of Executive Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, who exposed the reason behind this refusal by the Paraguayan president.
The reason
The Paraguayan state-oil company Petropar has a debt of more than $300 million to Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela SA). In addition, the Paraguayan president himself, Abdo Benítez, is involved in a corruption scandal because he entered into an agreement with Juan Guaidó, agreeing to pay only $100 of the $300 million while condoning the imposter government’s theft and looting of Venezuelan assets.
The terms of this agreement were confirmed by the head of the Paraguayan government’s Civil Cabinet, Ernesto Villamayor. The spokesperson specified how his administration was notified that the “interim government” of former deputy Guaidó, which they recognize, would forgive Paraguay’s multi-million dollar debt. The revelations came to light in January of this year.
At that time Villamayor stated that the agreement with Guaidó to forgive the debt “represents for the Paraguayan State, in the terms that had been discussed by Petropar, a saving of more than $150 million.” The revelations marked another confirmation of Guaidó and company’s ability to concoct maneuvers and conspiracies to rob the Venezuelan people of their resources abroad.
In fact, Villamayor dodged a motion of censure in the Chamber of Deputies, due to inadequate votes, following the disclosure of a meeting he had with an envoy of former deputy Guaidó, in which the two discussed the conspiracy to evade the debt with Venezuela and, correspondingly, to condone Guaidó’s looting of Venezuelan assets.
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Pdte @NicolasMaduro retó a los pdtes @MaritoAbdo y @LuisLacallePou a un diálogo sobre los temas más relevantes de nuestra Región y esenciales de cara a los pueblos. Como titular del Ministerio de Finanzas emplazo a @MaritoAbdo a honrar la deuda que tiene Paraguay con Venezuela.
— Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) September 18, 2021
What the vice president said
For this reason, the Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, urged the Paraguayan president to honor Paraguay’s debt with Venezuela, after he expressed his isolated position in the midst of the CELAC Summit of Heads of State and Government, in which 33 heads of state participated.
In this way, Rodríguez exposed the motives that Abdo Benítez might possess for withholding his recognition of the legitimate and constitutional Venezuelan government headed by Nicolás Maduro.
Featured image: Paraguayan president Mario Abdo speaking at the 6th CELAC Summit of Heads of State and Government. File photo.
(RedRadioVE) by Daniela Jiménez
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
