The Venezuelan Government will determine the scope of the damage caused by the retention of assets in Venezuela by Novo Banco and will take the recent Portuguese court ruling as a reference to order the return in other international processes.
The Venezuelan government’s position was announced by the Venezuelan attorney general, Reinaldo Muñoz Predoza, in statements to Venezuelan state television (VTV), during which he explained that Caracas “continues to defend itself in all arbitrations,” including the United States. England.
“In the specific case of Novo Banco, it cannot be hidden that the damage is much greater. (…) We have to show from now on, in the next few days, if the bank was aware of the damage it was causing. “, he said.
Venezuela intends to specify if this damage “was deliberate” or if Novo Banco “simply followed instructions from a foreign State or from the people’s lawyers, from the Venezuelan politicians who, in recent years, have insisted on causing this suffering” to the people from Venezuela. .
The prosecutor explained that the decision of the Lisbon Court “is quite clear, it does not give rise to confusion” by stating “that the only legitimate government is that of the president [Nicolás Maduro]”, that their representatives “are designated in accordance with Venezuelan legislation and internal regulations, the laws and acts of the Government of Venezuela,” and that there were those who came to the trial saying that they were representatives and they were not.
According to the prosecutor, the unblocked money will be returned to the depository entities that will now be able to meet the obligations for which these resources were allocated.
On the other hand, the Vice Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies, William Castillo, explained to Venezuelan state television that the court’s decision recognizes Nicolás Maduro as the constitutional president of Venezuela.
“The decision means a political and legal victory for Venezuela, because there are several processes and the fact that a court, in Portugal, says that Venezuela is right, that the constitutional government of Nicolás Maduro is the depositary, user and owner of these resources. .in the name of the people (…) sets a precedent for various processes”, he explained to VTV.
According to William Castillo, the Venezuelan government has entered “into a new stage”, with this precedent, “for the legal, political and judicial struggle that Venezuela has against sanctions and the international blockade.”
“It is a long, difficult fight, because the damage from the sanctions is very serious, but all Venezuelans (…) should know that Venezuela’s commitment is that [recuperar os recursos] and that there is not a single leader in the opposition with credibility to offer something better for the country”, he stressed.
The Government of Venezuela announced this Wednesday that the Portuguese Justice had decided to release more than 1,350 million euros that were withheld in Portugal in accounts of Venezuelan institutions and companies at Novo Banco.
According to Caracas, this is “a clear and resounding victory” against a strategy of “appropriation” of resources by Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), Bank for Economic and Social Development (BANDES), Banco Bandes Uruguay SA, Petrocedeño, PDVSA Servicios BV, Petromonágas, Petropiar and Bariven, which were “illegally held.”
On Thursday, Novo Banco indicated that the judicial decision was “expected” and that it “does not expect” that there will be “an impact on the liquidity or capital ratios” as a result of the sentence.
The sentence, the bank underlined in a response sent to Lusa, “comes to clarify issues that the bank had already raised, ex officio, before the Portuguese courts due to existing doubts about the legal representation of Venezuelan public entities.”
The bank adds that due to the legal duties imposed on banking entities, “no bank transfer could be made until the aforementioned doubts were clarified.”
The funds were withheld after opposition leader Juan Guaidó publicly declared in January 2019 that he would assume the position of interim president of Venezuela, until Nicolás Maduro, who had the support of more than 50 countries, was removed from power. including Portugal.
In April 2019, President Nicolás Maduro urged the Portuguese government to release the Venezuelan state assets held at Novo Banco, claiming that the funds would be used to buy “medicine and food.”
Source: TSF
