Caracas Launching Lawsuits Against Banks That Froze Venezuela's Assets - Foreign Minister

BUENOS AIRES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2019) Caracas is launching lawsuits against banks that have frozen Venezuela's assets worth almost $5 billion Euros ($5.57 billion), Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has said.

"It is a robbery ... These funds belong to Venezuelans. There are funds for healthcare, food products and accommodation. We are launching lawsuits within the national jurisdiction of the countries that have blocked the funds," Arreaza told reporters on Thursday.

The top diplomat recalled that foreign banks froze millions of Dollars of Venezuela's funds. Particularly, the Bank of England has frozen $1,359 million in Venezuela's assets; UK Citibank froze $218 million; Portuguese Novo Banco froze $1.72 million; and Japanese Sumimoto blocked $462 billion.

Arreaza noted that the assets of Citgo, the US subsidiary of the Venezuelan energy giant PDVSA, had also been frozen.

The situation around Venezuela remains tense months after US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido illegally declared himself the country's interim president after disputing President Nicolas Maduro's re-election. Washington immediately endorsed Guaido, called on Maduro to step down and seized billions of dollars' worth of the country's oil assets. Moreover, a number of US senior officials, including President Donald Trump, have repeatedly stated that all options remain on the table with regard to the Venezuelan crisis, including military action.

Maduro, in turn, has accused the United States of trying to orchestrate a coup in order to install Guaido as a US puppet and take over Venezuela's natural resources.

Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia, Turkey and a number of other countries have voiced their support for Maduro as the only legitimate president of Venezuela.