Communist Party of Venezuela demands public and citizen audit for external debt

Here is the full statement from the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PCV:

“After years of economic crisis, destruction of the living conditions of the working class and plundering of national resources, Venezuela faces a new offensive by transnational capital to guarantee the collection of obligations whose amount, origin, and legitimacy have not been established transparently before the Venezuelan people.

There is no official, publicly available, and audited figure for the total amount of the country's external debt. Estimates range from $95 billion to nearly $240 billion. This enormous disparity reveals the lack of transparency surrounding the issue and makes it difficult to accurately determine the Republic's true obligations.

The combination of bonds and arbitration awards constitutes a real straitjacket that threatens to compromise fundamental resources of the nation for decades.

The Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) rejects the notion that debt restructuring is merely a technical or financial problem. There is a concrete dispute over Venezuela's resources. Investment funds seek to guarantee repayment of their bonds; transnational corporations aim to convert their claims into new business ventures; and creditors strive to secure their access to national revenue.

Furthermore, the illegal and legitimate administration of Delcy Rodríguez is not authorized to carry out any debt restructuring process, nor any other negotiation that compromises the assets of the Republic.

The Venezuelan people cannot be sacrificed again to guarantee the profits of those who profited from the country's debt and crisis. Before satisfying the demands of creditors, national resources must be prioritized to address the social emergency, restore public services, and guarantee decent living conditions for the working class.

Faced with this situation, the Communist Party of Venezuela proposes the need to suspend the payment of those obligations whose legitimacy has not been established and to immediately open a public, independent, and citizen audit of the external debt.

Debt cannot be used as a mechanism to impose new austerity policies, privatizations, and sacrifices on the working class. The principle must be clear: the economic and social rights of the Venezuelan people take precedence over the interests of the creditors.

We do not accept that present and future generations should be condemned to pay debts contracted under opaque conditions, subject to speculative interests, or used to enrich national and international private sectors.

Venezuela needs transparency, sovereignty, and popular control over its resources. The Venezuelan people should not have to pay the debts of those who plundered them.

For a public and citizen-led audit of the external debt!

For the defence of national sovereignty and the rights of the Venezuelan people!”