Venezuela`s National Assembly, led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, on Tuesday authorized a $71 million interest payment on state oil company PDVSA`s 2020 bond, which is backed by shares in U.S. refiner Citgo.
Failure to make the payment could prompt creditors to attempt to seize shares in Citgo, a subsidiary of PDVSA and the country`s crown jewel overseas asset.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro`s government has remained current on the 2020 bond even as it defaulted on some $8 billion in other debt issued by the government and by PDVSA in order to avoid losing Citgo.
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The U.S. slapped sanctions on PDVSA in January in a bid to pressure Maduro, a socialist labeled a dictator by the Trump administration and many other countries in the region, to step down. That would have complicated any effort by a Maduro-linked entity to make the payment.
Allies of Guaido, who in January invoked the country`s constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Maduro`s 2018 re-election was illegitimate, have said they would seek an authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department to make the payment.
Guaido`s team has not specified which funds it will use to make the payment.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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