Citibank plans to close the account Venezuela uses to make international payments, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday, accusing the US-based bank of a “financial blockade.”
“Citibank, with no warning or communication, says that it is going to close the central bank and Bank Of Venezuela account. That is what you call a financial blockade,” Maduro said in televised remarks.
He said the move amounted to an “inquisition” by US President Barack Obama’s administration.
Photo: EPA
Maduro said that Venezuela, a major oil producer, uses the account to make payments “within 24 hours, to other accounts in the United States and worldwide.”
Maduro’s government has often claimed that US interests and local business elites were trying to blockade his state-led economy and prevent Venezuela’s access to international credit.
“Do you think they are going to stop us by putting in place a financial blockade? No, ladies and gentlemen, nobody stops Venezuela. With Citibank or without it, we are moving forward. With Kimberly or without, we are moving,” he said.
Venezuela’s government said just hours earlier that it would take over operations at facilities where US consumer goods giant Kimberly-Clark recently shut down, citing unworkable economic conditions.
The US company said on Saturday last week that it would cease production, saying that it was impossible to get enough hard currency to buy raw materials, and that inflation was surging.
“We are going to sign, at the workers’ request ... to authorize immediate occupation of the workplace known as Kimberly-Clark de Venezuela ... by its workers,” Venezuelan Minister of Labor Oswaldo Vera said at the facility’s plant in the central city of Maracay.
The nation’s economy has been hard hit by the plunging value of its main export, oil. Analysts also criticize its state-led economy of gross mismanagement leading to shortages of toilet paper, diapers and food.
Vera signed the document to loud cheers — he said machines would be back in operation within hours.
In a sign of Maduro’s concern at mounting social unrest, the president on Thursday last week replaced the head of the National Guard.
The Venezuelan opposition launched efforts to remove the president after winning control of the legislature in January. However, Maduro has challenged his rivals through the Supreme Court, which they accuse him of controlling.
The government has already filed a case in the court against the referendum bid.
The national electoral board has said it will announce by July 26 whether enough signatures have been authenticated for the referendum drive to proceed. If that happens, Maduro’s opponents must collect 4 million more signatures to call a full referendum on his removal.
The opposition is rushing to complete the recall process by Jan. 10, the cutoff date to trigger new elections. After that date, a successful recall vote would simply hand power to Maduro’s hand-picked vice president.
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