Venezuela's State Oil Company to Sue US Over Spying
especiales
Venezuela's state oil company, known as PDVSA, is considering opening legal proceedings within the United States over years of U.S. spying on the oil company, which were revealed last week in an exclusive report by teleSUR.
"It's inadmissible and following the laws of the United States we are going to complain and seek redress for damage,"PDVSA President Eulogio del Pino said Saturday.
Del Pino made the announcement from Tehran, Iran where he is participating in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum Summit.
"We are evaluating legal actions, not moral ones. Delving into the personal data of our workers, our strategies, our plans, our operations, it is an act of involvement that is inadmissible," added del Pino.
In a joint investigation by teleSUR and the Intercept, a document provided by former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that U.S. intelligence agents had posed as diplomats in the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela and were involved in espionage targeting Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned the spying on PDVSA, telling teleSUR that his government would “revise our relationship with the U.S. again.”
“U.S. imperialism, for a long time, has wanted to sabotage our petroleum industry and defeat the Bolivarian government in order to take over Venezuela’s petroleum,” said Maduro after the spying was revealed.
Venezuela’s deputy foreign minister for North America and Europe, Alejandro Fleming, delivered a letter to the U.S. charge d’affaires in Caracas, Lee McClenny, to signal the government's official complaint about the espionage.
U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby said his government “has no interest or intent to destabilize the Venezuelan government.”
Kirby also denied the U.S. aimed to obtain commercial gain by spying on PDVSA.
Add new comment