The Venezuelan president reaffirmed that the U.S.-based company CITGO belongs to the Venezuelan people . | Photo: Presidential Press Office

Caracas, May 9 (RHC)-- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called on Monday on the people to remain in battle to denounce and repudiate the looting of the company CITGO, a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company PDVSA, after the decision of the U.S. government.

"I call on the people of Venezuela to remain in permanent battle to denounce the looting of CITGO, to repudiate the looting of CITGO and to directly point out those responsible," he stated during his program "Con Maduro +".

He reaffirmed that the U.S.-based CITGO Petroleum Corporation belongs to the people of the South American country and that the owner of its shares (nominal owner) is Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa).

"Pdvsa, a company incorporated and operating in Venezuela with 80,000 workers. One single Pdvsa", he stated and added that the opposition sector called Plataforma Unitaria "are the ones behind the theft of the company CITGO, which belongs to all Venezuelans".

The president reminded that CITGO is a company valued at some 13 billion dollars and that it has more than 10,000 gasoline stations in the United States.

"We cannot accept that it be plundered, that it be stolen, that Venezuela be stripped of one of its assets simply because of imperial filibustering, which imposes rules of the game that go beyond international law. That hijacks a company because it is in its own territory and now intends to plunder it, steal it and deliver it into the hands of this extreme right-wing opposition that hides, but is responsible for all the sanctions, for all the unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela", he said.

Likewise, he emphasized that Venezuela must move forward with work and production, as well as denouncing and confronting injustices.

During his program "Con Maduro +," the Venezuelan president expressed his support for the initiatives raised by China and Brazil on peace in the conflict in Ukraine.  "We strongly support the diplomatic peace initiatives of President Xi Jinping and President Lula da Silva.  Venezuela is betting everything on peace," he said.

President Nicolas Maduro stated that diplomacy is to talk, understand each other, seek peace formulas and de-escalate conflicts.