[Thread] When we thought we had seen it all, @jguaido and his band of buffoons manage to surprise us. And not in a good way, of course. Oil giant ConocoPhillips just got the green light to enforce an $8.5B arbitration award because Guaidó's team... failed to show up in court
That's right, ladies and gentlemen. This ragtag circus troupe that Washington "recognizes" as the legitimate Vzlan govt (can anyone say this w/ a straight face?) failed to "plead or defend" itself for more than a year. Is it a case of criminal negligence or working for the enemy?
The background here is that disgraceful oil multinational ConocoPhillips won an $8.5 billion arbitration award for assets nationalized by the Hugo Chávez govt when the firm refused to comply with new legislation. Funny how these "tribunals" tend to rule in favor of corporations?
It's hardly the first of its kind. In other cases (one at least also involving CP), the Venezuelan gov't challenged the ruling, with some thrown out, others upheld, and others leading to reduced payouts. But in this case, the defense was in the hands of self-proclaimed Guaidó
ConocoPhillips moved to have the award enforced and the court approved given the "interim govt"'s no-show. "Vzla is neither an infant nor an incompetent person." Well... If we're talking about Guaidó and his troupe, it's both really. We need a new legal category: pliant US puppet
Credit where credit is due: @frrodriguezc has done an invaluable job in bringing these documents to light. He rightfully asks, as we all do, "what's behind this decision to abandon the legal defense in the biggest arbitration award the country is facing?"
Given that the US-backed opposition allegedly struck a deal w/ ConocoPhillips on a $1.3B debt from another award (see thread for details), then very unconvincingly denied it, it's tempting to connect the dots. Was abandoning this defense the quid pro quo?
Our proverbial money is on this self-proclaimed monument to idiocy securing a golden parachute (ConocoPhillips board member?) once this pathetic charade comes to its inevitable, long-overdue end. But in the meantime, assets such as CITGO look as good as lost thanks to his antics
Even before this latest $8.5B golden ticket, there was already a queue of corporate vultures, some already trying to collect via a court-ordered sale of CITGO. These include Crystallex ($1.4B), ConocoPhillips ($1.3B), Rusoro Mining ($1.5B) and Owens-Illinois ($500M)
The awards are already worth more than the US-based Vzlan refiner, which has been imperiled by a unique mix of corruption, incompetence and conflict of interest. Opp-controlled CITGO has already hired JP Morgan to "consult" on dealing w/ creditors, so the writing's on the wall
The only thing standing in the way of the corporations right now is, remarkably, the US Treasury Dept, which has blocked the seizure of Vzlan assets w/o special permission to save US puppets from embarrassment. But there are hints that these protections may be lifted in 2022
Some people have brought up that maybe the self-proclaimed "interim govt" ran out of money, as some pretend official recently asked for resources for defending assets. We're not buying it. There was money for a mercenary invasion but not to pay lawyers? presidenciave.com/parlamento/pro…
Venezuela's foreign assets are sure to be a hot topic in the coming months, w/ the (actual) government determined to fight for them, the opposition doing its best to lose them and the US stuck between serving corporations and protecting its puppets. Follow VA for coverage
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