The South American nation owes bondholders and companies more than $60 billion for nationalized companies and defaulted bonds from the country and state oil firm PDVSA. Some US courts have granted creditors the right to negotiate the sale of Venezuelan assets abroad to collect debts. However, some assets are protected by the US Treasury Department.
Between October 2020 and October 2022, Venezuela's opposition parliament authorized nearly $30 million in payments to the lawyers hired by the interim government of former opposition leader Juan Guaido. However, they have yet to receive $20.7 million of these payments. In a report from the interim government's prosecution team, the lawyers claim that failing to pursue the lawsuits could result in the loss of overseas assets. Opposition groups maintain that control of overseas assets is not at risk but have not provided details on the status of ongoing litigation.
