CARACAS, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Venezuelan government rejected a recent decision by a U.S. judge, which authorized the sale of shares of Citgo, a subsidiary of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), calling it "procedural fraud."
"Venezuela denounces and deeply rejects the actions of the government of Donald Trump, in complicity with a stronghold of Venezuelan extremists who, acting in collusion, have committed transnational crimes in order to appropriate assets from Venezuela and its entities throughout the world," the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Venezuela said the ruling "confirms that (the Trump) administration's international relations are driven by hatred, looting, revenge, and abuse of power."
The decision of a U.S. court in Delaware, the ministry said, resulted from the complicity between Washington and parts of the Venezuelan opposition, led by former deputy and self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido.
"It is the distribution of spoils during the government's last moments," said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza in reference to the Trump administration, which in 2019 imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan oil industry and blocked Citgo funds in order to transfer them to Guaido.
On Thursday, a Delaware judge authorized the sale of Citgo's shares, Venezuela's main asset abroad, in order to use the funds to compensate Canadian company Crystallex for the nationalization of a gold deposit in the South American nation.
