Venezuela’s Communists Call for Public Audit of External Debt

Venezuela’s Communist Party has called for a public and citizen-led audit of the country’s external debt, warning that the planned restructuring could become a mechanism for submission to international capital.

The party, which opposes Chavismo and was intervened by Venezuela’s Supreme Court, said there is no official, public and audited figure for the country’s total external obligations. It cited estimates ranging from $95 billion to nearly $240 billion, saying the disparity exposed the opacity surrounding the issue. The higher estimate was reported by the Financial Times.

“There is a concrete dispute over Venezuela’s resources,” the party said in a statement. It argued that investment funds want to ensure payment on their bonds, multinational corporations hope to turn their claims into new business, and creditors want to secure access to national income.

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There is no official, public and audited figure for the total amount of the country's external obligations.

The PCV rejected any arrangement that would condemn present and future generations to pay debts contracted under opaque conditions, subject to speculative interest or used to enrich private interests in Venezuela and abroad. It urged the government to direct national resources toward the social emergency, restoring public services and guaranteeing decent living conditions for workers amid a crisis marked by power outages and declining purchasing power.

The Venezuelan government announced on May 13 that it would begin a “formal, comprehensive and orderly” process to restructure the country’s external public debt and the obligations of state oil company PDVSA. It did not specify the total amount. Transparency Venezuela had estimated the debt at more than $170 billion in March, before the Financial Times reported in June that Caracas planned to disclose accumulated debt of $240 billion.

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There is a concrete dispute over Venezuela's resources.