Venezuela’s U.S.-backed opposition leaders asked a federal appeals court to refrain from carving up the country’s foreign assets, saying their loss would hurt the chances of political change in Caracas, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The opposition’s parallel government filed papers Friday urging the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to support the Trump administration’s push for regime change in Venezuela by pausing a $1.4 billion debt-collection lawsuit. The request underscores how the efforts of Venezuela’s many creditors to get repaid are now caught up in the country’s political crisis and the U.S. support for opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who re-entered the South American country yesterday under threat of arrest. With U.S. assistance, Guaidó has asserted control over Venezuelan assets abroad, including the country’s prized U.S. refining subsidiary, Citgo Petroleum Corp., a critical piece in the production chain at state oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela SA. Citgo is a pawn in the standoff between Washington and Caracas after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on owner PdVSA that are designed to cut off the primary source of petrodollars that keep embattled leftist President Nicolás Maduro in power. However, Washington, D.C., has allowed Citgo to find substitute crude suppliers and remain in business, because it is eager to protect the company’s thousands of U.S. jobs.
