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Citgo is notified of collective lawsuit against President Chávez

Freedom Watch, a conservative political advocacy group dedicated to preserving civil liberties and human rights, had already announced in April that it is seeking a USD 5 billion compensation for punitive damages

Economy
Freedom Watch, a US non-governmental organization (NGO), announced on Thursday that it has formally notified the Venezuelan-run oil company Citgo about the class action filed against Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, for alleged acts of terrorism and violation of human rights.

Larry Klayman, founder and President of Freedom Watch, said that the Venezuelan government has 20 days to respond the lawsuit filed last April in a Miami court on behalf of the Venezuelan journalist Ricardo Guanipa who qualified for political asylum in the US since 2005.

The lawsuit was filed against Chávez, several government officials and against Citgo, a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United States of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (Pdvsa).

Freedom Watch, a conservative political advocacy group dedicated to preserving civil liberties and human rights, had already announced in April that it is seeking a USD 5 billion compensation for punitive damages, Efe reported.

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IISS: The FARC financed Chávez before 1999

10:07 AM. DIPLOMACY. Admired by the Colombian guerrilla after his coup attempt in 1992, the then lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez Frías received financial support by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for his projects after his capture that year. This mostly explains the relationship and "debt" between the parties, as revealed by a paper of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) of the United Kingdom.