The special prosecutor appointed by the interim government of Juan Guaidó, Enrique Sánchez Falcón, declared himself “pessimistic” about the possibility that the new Colombian government will keep the administration of Monómeros in the hands of officials from the political opposition in Venezuela.
“I am pessimistic, because the recognition Mr. Gustavo Petro has given to the Maduro government has been practically complete (…) I think it will be difficult to keep him in good hands. If it happens to the dictatorship, we know what that means. I am pessimistic, I think that is closed, “he remarked during a virtual conference with Venezuelan journalists.
The Colombian Superintendence of Companies intervened in Monómeros in September 2021 under a regime of maximum supervision, amid complaints of liquidity risk and alleged corruption of officials close to the political leadership opposed to the Maduro government, which remains in power.
Colombia’s president-elect and leftist leader, Gustavo Petro, declared earlier this month that plans to return control of Monomers to the Maduro government, which the current Colombian executive power does not recognize as legitimate, in order to reduce the prices of fertilizers in their country.
Sánchez Falcón said he had no official information on the audit done by a Colombian company in Monomers and whose results would be known in August, as he assured the voice of america the general manager of the company.
Nor has he heard or read “any plausible explanation” from those responsible for Monómeros about the hiring of the LyonStreet company, in April 2021, which contemplated pernicious terms for the Venezuelan asset.
Sánchez Falcón denounced that the “political diatribe” in the Venezuelan opposition has hindered the discussion of a “comprehensive budget” so that his office could cover expenses in litigation over state assets and resources.
“How do we negotiate from the position of defaulters and in some cases of maula? It has affected the political tirade and the attitude of certain political factors,” he said.
Minutes before, he considered that it is “irresponsible” to stop investing between 20 and 40 million dollars to litigate lawsuits where 40,000 million dollars belonging to the Venezuelan State are at stake.
Decision offside?
The Colombian government announced this Monday that it could terminate its control measure over the Monómeros company in the coming days.
The Superintendent of Colombian Companies, Billy Escobar, revealed that before the end of July a decision will be made as to whether the assets of the Venezuelan State continue to be intervened by the neighboring government. The move will depend on the company’s performance and growth results they see, he said.
“We are going to make an evaluation at the end of this month as we have done every month and after that assessment we will see if this behavior is positive with a view to lifting control. The control does not generate any type of difficulty, from the point of view of the development of the company”, he stated this Monday, according to statements reflected by the Colombian and regional media.
Escobar reiterated his defense of the role of the Colombian State in exercising its control over a certain company.
“Control does not take a company out of business, it does not close the doors to the financial sector, it does not create difficulties with the banking sector (…) which makes the company move forward and is a pledge of guarantee since month after month, we make a measurement”, he indicated.
Escobar specified that the official body he leads has verified month after month the reports of Monomer indicators, which have recently been positive.
“If the indicators continue to be positive, we will consider the option of lifting that control,” assured the Colombian official, just two weeks after Petro’s assumption of power.
Escobar’s statements come days after the comptroller commission of the Venezuelan Parliament elected in 2015, with an opposition majority, recommend declaring political responsibility in alleged corruption of the current general manager of Monómeros, the engineer Guillermo Rodríguez Laprea.
The Venezuelan official rejected the approval of that report in an interview with the VOA and considered that it contradicts the findings made by the Superintendency of Companies and the US Treasury Department.
The Maduro government accuses Guaidó and his allies of “stealing” Venezuela’s assets abroad with the help of governments such as that of Iván Duque, in Colombia, and Joe Biden, in the United States, where the Citgo company operates.
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