Dozens of Firms Interested in US Auction of Citgo’s Parent Company

A court-ordered auction of the shares of the parent company of Venezuela-owned U.S. oil refiner Citgo Petroleum has attracted dozens of companies interested in the data and the auction process, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Dozens of Firms Interested in US Auction of Citgo’s Parent Company

Previously:

Venezuela’s Authorities Arrest Union Activist in Connection with Terrorist Plot (+Vente Venezuela)

Attorney General of Venezuela Tarek William Saab reported, via social media, the arrest of a union activist in Barinas state named Víctor Venegas. Venegas was allegedly involved in conspiracies threaten the peace of the country and the lives of senior officials.

Venezuela’s Authorities Arrest Union Activist in Connection with Terrorist Plot (+Vente Venezuela)

That was quick! He already has a Wikipedia page!

President Maduro’s speech welcoming the freed Alex Saab to Venezuela

December 20, 2023

Good afternoon to all Venezuela, to the National Radio and Television network, to all national and international media and those through social networks. I want to welcome this brave, patriotic man who resisted 1280 days, 40 months, in the most adverse, most painful conditions of kidnapping, filthy prisons, physical torture, psychological torture, threats, lies. And after 1280 days of kidnapping, he has triumphed. The truth has triumphed, justice has triumphed – what had to happen. Welcome, Alex Saab Moran. From your days of pain, of persecution against you, against your family. This I told Alex when I just gave him this hug. On this beautiful afternoon, with this beautiful sun in Caracas, on this happy Christmas of our people waiting for the year 2024. I knew that this day had to come and this day came. Blessed day, December 20, unforgettable forever in the year 2023. We have to talk about so many things. You have faced the toughest tests that a brave man with Palestinian blood knows how to endure.

President Maduro’s speech welcoming the freed Alex Saab to Venezuela

Previously:

Venezuela: Opposition Politician María Corina Machado Suddenly Changes Position, Submits Electoral Disqualification Review Before Supreme Court

Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado, who insisted on ignoring the democratic route for years, had until recently asserted that she will not appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) for a review of her political disqualification, a legal recourse that she could adopt based on the Barbados Agreement between the Venezuelan government and the opposition’s Unitary Platform. However, on Friday, December 15, the virtual US embassy for Venezuela reported through a social media post that Machado had suddenly changed her position and had gone to the TSJ to request the lifting of her disqualification.

Venezuela: Opposition Politician María Corina Machado Suddenly Changes Position, Submits Electoral Disqualification Review Before Supreme Court

On Venezuelan President Maduro’s re-election in 2018: expect similar lies if he wins in 2024

Thanks to everyone for making this event happen. I’ll get right into it. As we get closer to Venezuela’s presidential election in 2024, we should anticipate the western media deploying the same general tactics they used to disparage Maduro’s electoral victory in 2018. I’m not predicting that Maduro is going to win again (as I hope he does), but, if he does win, we can anticipate that the same general propaganda tactics will be used – with some variations of course for the changed situation that exists in Venezuela and around the world since 2018.

On Venezuelan President Maduro’s re-election in 2018: expect similar lies if he wins in 2024

Essequibo: Guyana may “ask UN member states to take military action to force Venezuela to comply with the ICJ order”

Guyana to take Venezuela to UN Security Council after Maduro’s announcements about Essequibo; GDF contacts US Department of Defence

Dr Ali added that there was “nothing to fear” as Guyana’s international partners and international community “are ready to support us.” He said the Guyana Defence Force was “on full alert” and has contacted the Florida-based United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), one of the 11 unified combatant commands in the US Department of Defense. “The Guyana Defence Force is on full alert and has engaged its military counterparts including the US Southern Command,” he said, without elaborating. Dr Ali added that the US, United Kingdom, Brazil and France as well as the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guitteres have been contacted. “By defying the court. Venezuela has rejected international law, the rule of law generally fundamental justice and morality and the preservation of international peace and security. They have literally declared themselves an outlaw nation,” he said.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall earlier Tuesday said the UN Security Council could be asked to approve economic sanctions on Venezuela or ask UN member states to take military action to force Venezuela to comply with the ICJ order that Venezuela must not take any action which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby Guyana administers and exercises control over Essequibo.

Related:

Notes: Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister, Amery Browne, has said that it’s a violation of the Caribbean Community’s policy for them to mediate a solution. Guyana was a founding member of CARICOM. Their aim was “to use [CARICOM] as leverage against Venezuela” and to prohibit them “from pursuing its Essequibo territorial claim”. [source]

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On the strategic relationship between Venezuela and China

During a state visit to the People’s Republic of China in September 2023, Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro met president Xi Jinping and both agreed to strengthen the relationship of their countries by establishing seven sub commissions to elevate it to the level of ‘all-weather strategic partnership’. This is the culmination of a relationship that began with president Hugo Chavez’s first visit to Beijing in 1999, the very first year of his presidency.

On the strategic relationship between Venezuela and China