Venezuelan Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodriguez has condemned a US court’s decision to authorise the “fraudulent” and “forced” sale of Venezuelan oil company Citgo in the United States to pay off billions of dollars in debts.

“We energetically reject the decision adopted in the judicial process”, Rodriguez said in a statement read on state television about the sale, which the Venezuelan government has always opposed.

Delaware Judge Leonard Stark last week ordered the sale of Citgo’s parent company to Amber Energy, an affiliate of the hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, for $5.9bn. Elliott Investment Management said in a press release that the court order was “backed by a group of strategic US energy investors”.

Citgo, a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s P

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