Venezuela opposition takes steps to seize oil revenue

CARACAS — Venezuela’s opposition-controlled congress named new temporary boards of directors to state-oil firm PDVSA on Wednesday, in an effort to wrest the OPEC nation’s oil revenue from increasingly isolated socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Mr. Maduro lashed out at the congress leader, Juan Guaido, saying in an interview that he would face the courts “sooner or later” for violating the constitution, after Mr. Guaido invoked constitutional provisions last month to assume an interim presidency.

Although many Western countries have recognized Mr. Guaido as legitimate head of state, Mr. Maduro retains control of state institutions and Mr. Guaido needs funds if he is to assemble an interim government.

Controlling PDVSA’s US refiner Citgo Petroleum, Venezuela’s most valuable foreign asset, would go some way to helping in that, though seizing the reins of PDVSA itself seems improbable while Mr. Maduro remains in power.

“We have taken a step forward with the reconstruction of PDVSA,” Mr. Guaido said on Twitter, just after congress named the directors. “With this decision, we are not only protecting our assets, we also avoid continued destruction.”

PDVSA’s crude output has slumped to 70-year lows, due to crushing debts, widespread corruption, and little maintenance of its infrastructure.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, which backs Mr. Guaido, imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector on Jan. 28, aimed at curbing exports to the United States and upping the pressure on Mr. Maduro.

Mr. Trump will give a speech on Venezuela at Florida International University in Miami on Monday, voicing support for Mr. Guaido and also making remarks about “the dangers of socialism,” a White House official said on Wednesday.

The proposed Citgo board would be composed of Venezuelans Luisa Palacios, Angel Olmeta, Luis Urdaneta, and Edgar Rincon, all of whom are currently living in the United States, plus one American director.

The nominations fuel a growing duel for control between Mr. Guaido and Mr. Maduro, who has promised he will not allow Citgo to be “stolen.” The mechanics of how the new board would take over are unclear, and there are likely to be court challenges to the board’s authority, people familiar with the deliberations say.

Citgo and PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests to comment.

Bulgarian security officials said on Wednesday that the country had blocked transfers out of several bank accounts which have received millions of euros from PDVSA.

A member of Mr. Guaido’s US diplomatic team told Reuters that they now had the “capacity” to use bank accounts belonging to Venezuela’s Washington embassy, though they did not plan to do so for now.

Mr. Guaido declared himself president three weeks ago, arguing that Mr. Maduro’s reelection last year was a sham. —