Venezuela opposition takes steps to seize oil revenue as Maduro issues threat
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.
Maduro lashed out at the
Although many Western countries have recognized
Controlling PDVSA's U.S. refiner Citgo
"We have taken a step forward with the reconstruction of PDVSA,"
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 U.S. President Donald Trump, which backs
Trump will give a speech on Venezuela at Florida International University in Miami on Monday, voicing support for
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
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
In an interview released on Wednesday by Lebanese television channel
"This person, who believes that politics is a game and he can violate the constitution and the law, sooner or later will have to answer before the courts," Maduro said, adding he was "absolutely sure" of this.
"If the American empire dares to touch even one palm leaf in our territory, this will turn into a new Vietnam," he said.
U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday said Congress would oppose U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and challenged the credibility of Trump's special envoy to deal with the crisis, Elliott Abrams, over his past embrace of American covert action in Latin America.
The Trump administration has said it wants a peaceful resolution to the crisis but Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out military action.
"I think there are a number of solutions, a number of different options, and we look at all options," Trump said when asked about the issue on Wednesday, in an appearance at the White House with Colombian President Ivan Duque.
In the meantime, the United States has said it will try to channel aid to Venezuela, via neighboring Colombia and possibly Brazil. Duque said Maduro's refusal to let in aid amounted to a crime against humanity and called on other countries to recognize it as such.
Maduro has called the aid a U.S.-orchestrated show and denies there is an economic crisis, despite a widespread lack of food and medicine and hyperinflation.