US court rejects Maduro control of Citgo

A US court has confirmed Venezuela's opposition government's authority to appoint the boards of national oil company PdV and US independent refiner Citgo.

But the Delaware Chancery Court ruling made no immediate decision on who the opposition appointed to those boards, allowing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's legal team another opportunity for challenge.

The court maintained the US-recognized authority of National Assembly leader Juan Guaido over Citgo, one of Venezuela's most valuable assets, just as the country's creditors move closer to satisfying billions of dollars of debt with shares of the fifth-largest US refiner.

The judge rejected Maduro arguments that Guaido could not act as a government without control of territory or people inside Venezuela, and that Venezuelan law controlled the dispute.

"The plaintiffs raise myriad arguments in an effort to complicate this straightforward analysis," the court wrote. "Not one of these arguments persuades, and this decision resolves these issues in favor of the defendants."

US courts have overwhelmingly deferred to the White House in determining who leads Venezuela. The US recognized Guaido as an interim leader of a transition government in January and sanctioned PdV to cut off Maduro's revenue.

"We are grateful that the court has rejected the Maduro regime's efforts to use the US judiciary to advance their anti-democratic objectives," Citgo said in a statement.

Maduro has kept control of Venezuela. But the recognition solidified Guaido's authority over Citgo and representation of Venezuela in a bevy of US lawsuits seeking arbitration awards. The US Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that companies may seek shares of Citgo to satisfy those debts accrued from years of expropriation.