Rep. Maria Salazar Sends Letter Raising Concerns Regarding the Forced Sale of the Oil Refiner CITGO

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. Maria Salazar sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Administration to safeguard the democratic Venezuelan National Assembly’s control over the oil refiner CITGO from the Venezuelan regime's creditors. 

CITGO is a strategic asset of the Venezuelan people and vital to the future of democracy in the country. It has been under the stewardship of Venezuela’s legitimate, democratic opposition since President Trump took decisive action during his first term. That protection is now at risk.

“The plaintiffs against CITGO are really plaintiffs against Maduro and the Chavista crooks that ran PDVSA in Venezuela into the ground,” said Rep. Salazar. “The Venezuelan opposition desperately trying to restore freedom to their country shouldn’t have to pay the debts of Maduro and his cronies."

In the letter, Rep. Salazar urged the Administration to:

• Bar the continuation of the sale process through its economic powers
   
• Safeguard CITGO in the service of U.S. foreign policy, energy security and national security concerns and;
   
• Work with Venezuela’s democratic leaders to explore a fair path forward for this strategic sovereign asset.

Background: 

During his first term, President Trump transferred control of CITGO from the hands of the Maduro Regime to the democratic opposition based in the United States. Unfortunately, that control was undermined by the Biden administration, which allowed the regime’s creditors to pursue their claims against those assets using U.S. courts.  

You can read the full letter here.