Venezuela warns it may sue neighbors

BOGOTA, Colombia — As Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro spends the weekend in China securing a $5 billion emergency loan, his cash-strapped administration is floating another money-making scheme: suing its neighbors.

In recent days, Maduro and his Cabinet have said they might sue Colombia, Ecuador and Peru for their “xenophobic” treatment of Venezuelan migrants. And on Tuesday, Maduro ordered his justice department to sue Colombia to reclaim money he says his administration has spent providing social services to millions of Colombians living in Venezuela.

The legal threats come as Venezuela seems increasingly desperate for cash. Once wealthy, the country is being slammed with chronic food and medicine shortages. Its foreign cash reserves are at their lowest levels since the 1980s. And oil output, the country’s lifeblood, is down to its lowest levels since a 2002 oil-worker strike. In addition, U.S. sanctions have been keeping the country from finding new money.

The $5 billion loan could help; the government says it would use the money to boost oil production.

That Venezuela is talking about suing neighbors for reparations is just one more sign of how dire the situation has become in Caracas.

Speaking at a youth rally for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela this week, Maduro said Venezuela had provided for millions of Colombians, who fled their nation’s violence, food, health and housing aid over decades.

“They need to reimburse us in American dollars,” he said.

Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said

“elites” in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru were luring Venezuelans there with false promises, then paying them slave wages.

“If we have to ask for compensation from the governments of