Julio Borges (right) and Juan Guaidó (left), both complicit in the theft of Monómeros, have accused each other and their respective "boards of directors" for bankrupting the company. Photo: Twitter/@MV_Eng
Venezuelan right-wing extremists have attacked each other for control of the PDVSA subsidiary.
The Venezuelan fertilizer company Monómeros, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and a Venezuelan State asset abroad, headquartered in Barranquilla, Colombia, is once again in the center of controversy, as internal fights over the control of the company have surfaced. The assets of Monómeros have been under the management of the “interim” government of Juan Guaidó, by virtue of an illegal seizure carried out with the support of Colombian President Iván Duque and the United States government.
At least 40% of the fertilizers used in Colombia are produced by Monómeros.
The present strife over the control of Monómeros is between José Luis Pirela, of the so-called July 16 fraction of the 2015 National Assembly board, the term of which expired in 2020, and the general manager of Monómeros, Guillermo Rodríguez Laprea and his board of directors.
RELATED CONTENT: Did Venezuela’s Authorities Detain Juan Guaidó?
Pirela has started legal action before the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office against the members of the board of directors of Monómeros, for the crimes of theft, corruption, mismanagement, improper use of privileged information, aggravated money laundering, and embezzlement.
The July 16 fraction has substituted the board of directors of Monómeros headed by Carmen Elisa Hernández de Castro and Jon Bilbao (executive president).
The board of directors of Monómeros, appointed by Juan Guaidó and the G4 coalition, has also initiated legal action against Pirela for allegedly spreading “economic panic” and for “slandering and discrediting the company.”
The July 16 fraction published a letter on May 28, addressed to Juan Guaidó, denouncing the criminal complaint filed against Pirela, who has dedicated the last two years to investigating the corruption of the current Monómeros directive.
So far, Guaidó has not issued any statement.
In 2021, Pirela had claimed that “in Monómeros there is a mafia engaged in bankrupting the company and finishing it off”. Recently, Pirela has denounced the board of directors once again: “What I complain is that these directives have not been ethical, they have been criminals and they have tried to cover up their responsibility, endangering a company that belongs to all Venezuelans.”
Colombian vice presidential candidate of the Historic Pact coalition, Francia Márquez, recently stated, “Ferticol and Monómenos, were two Colombian-Venezuelan companies that, due to the conflict between Venezuela and Colombia, were handed over to crony politicians that bankrupted these companies. Monómeros was handed over to Guaidó. That company generated 2,000 direct jobs and 50% of fertilizer inputs were produced there.”
(Últimas Noticias) by Dulce Feliciano
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC
