Caracas, May 2 (RHC)-- The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, repudiated on Monday the decision of the U.S. Government on the delivery of the company Citgo, a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company PDVSA, to a sector of the opposition, calling it "a blatant robbery."

"Today the U.S. government issued a resolution handing over the Venezuelan company Citgo to some people from the opposition of the United Platform of Venezuela (...) An unworthy resolution, which is a direct message of surrender.  They have decided to hand over Citgo to a group of unknown people."

The Venezuelan president emphasized that this resolution delivers Citgo Petroleum Corporation, based in the United States, to the "directive of the former National Assembly, which no longer exists in Venezuela, a group of people that none of us know, who live abroad."

"The U.S. government issues a resolution giving Citgo to them so that they can sell it and do whatever they want," he said.  He also made reference to the International Conference on Venezuela held in Bogota (Colombian capital) last April 25, recalling that representatives of the participating countries urged the lifting of coercive measures against the South American country.

"This decision of the U.S. government is a mockery and a slap in the face of the International Conference convened in Bogota and the almost unanimous request to lift the sanctions against Venezuela," he emphasized.

Nicolas Maduro expressed, on behalf of all the Venezuelan people, that they reject and repudiate "indignantly the robbery of the Citgo company by the U.S. government and by the Venezuelan Unitary Platform."

He pointed out that the Citgo company is estimated at more than 8 billion dollars and with more than 10,000 gas pumps in the United States.  "A blatant robbery of a company that annually generates more than one billion dollars in profits, which has accumulated at least four years without delivering profits to the country as a result of the kidnapping that Donald Trump subjected it to," he said.

In addition, he indicated that the U.S. government made this repudiatory decision against the people and sovereignty of Venezuela.  "It is the battle we must wage for the truth.  Complicit, all the opposition are complicit in the looting and theft against Venezuelan properties," he added.