As this year draws to a close, it is inevitable that we pause and ask ourselves why we are still here. Not only in legal or procedural terms, but in a deeper sense: what are we defending and for whom?
The answer is simple, though not easy to sustain over time: we are defending what belongs to Venezuela. Not as a legal abstraction, but as the heritage of millions of Venezuelans who have lost almost everything except the hope that one day their country can be rebuilt with dignity.
CITGO is not a case file, nor a figure in a ledger. It is one of the last strategic assets that can still serve a future Venezuela, full of dreams. We defend CITGO because we believe there will be a change in the country’s political leadership and CITGO will be vital at that time. Defending it has not been an act of convenience, but of historical responsibility. And doing so amid political pressure, complex litigation, and personal and institutional smear campaigns has required more than just technique: it has required conviction.
The emergence of PDVSA ad hoc allowed for the preparation of an organized institutional defense that prevented CITGO’s assets from quietly disappearing in 2019. And it has allowed Venezuela to still be standing seven years later, rather than being stripped of its assets without even having a voice. We have defended ownership, not just value, and we have upheld the fundamental principle that the country has the right to reach the future with something of its own in the hands of Venezuelans.
It has been a long, imperfect, and at times thankless path. But it has also been a path that avoided the worst of scenarios: resignation and oblivion. This year made it clear that, even under extreme conditions, Venezuelans can act with seriousness, with rules, and with a sense of country.
It also left an important lesson: when criticism is confused with destruction, when collective issues are personalized or fatigue is used as a political weapon, it is not an institution or a group of people that is punished, but rather our Venezuela that is weakened in the eyes of third parties. And that has real consequences.
The defense of CITGO is not an isolated battle. It is part of something broader: the affirmation that Venezuela does not renounce its right to rebuild itself, nor does it accept that dispossession should be normalized as destiny.
The year that begins will be decisive. Not because it promises immediate solutions, but because it will demand maturity—cohesion, a sense of purpose, and shared responsibility.
Defending CITGO in 2026 will require less stridency and more unity; less grandstanding and more vision for the country. It will require closing ranks in its defense and understanding that taking care of what is still ours—even in silence—is a way of fighting for Venezuela.
This is not the time for internal divisions or disputes that only fuel attrition. It is the moment to act with the serenity of those who know that preserving today is the only way to be able to rebuild tomorrow.
The struggle continues. It continues because there is still a strategic asset worth defending. And because Venezuela deserves to reach the future with ownership, with dignity, and with hope.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026.
