The Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce suspended the registration of a new board of directors for Monómeros, named by Venezuela’s state-owned Pequiven, after an appeal from acting General Manager Guillermo Rodríguez Laprea.
By Venezuela Analysis – José Luis Granados Ceja
Sep 12, 2022
The move by Rodríguez, who was tapped by the Venezuelan opposition to run the company in January 2021, is the latest chapter in a long running saga over the management of Venezuela’s second-most important foreign asset.
The Colombia-based agrochemical producer came under the control of Venezuela’s hardline opposition in May 2019-alongside a number of other foreign assets-following the recognition of Juan Guaidó as “interim president” by Washington and its allies as part of efforts to oust the Nicolás Maduro government.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, widely seen as the country’s first leftist president, pledged to return Monómeros to state-owned Pequiven, and thus place it under the control of the Venezuelan government once more, as part of efforts to restore diplomatic and economic ties with Caracas.
Rodríguez, however, has emphatically resisted efforts to hand back the agrochemical producer to the Venezuelan government, saying that the company has legal obligations to the defunct Venezuelan opposition-controlled National Assembly, elected in 2015 and whose term expired January 2021.
Since being run by the opposition, Monómeros has been plagued by scandals and corruption allegations, which have severely impacted its productivity and has generated serious problems for Colombia’s rural producers. Rodríguez himself has been accused of allowing the company to be used as a political football, favoring political parties with ties to the board, as well as signing questionable contracts on behalf of the company, including the hiring of a lobbyist with ties to former US Ambassador to Venezuela Otto Reich without the knowledge or authorization of the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
However, the Petro government has also been vague about its commitment to return Monómeros to the Venezuelan government. Late last month El País reported that Colombian officials floated the idea of acquiring 51 percent of shares in the company but had not yet received a reply from the Maduro government.
At issue is the impact of US sanctions, which severely limit the ability of Venezuelan state-owned businesses to operate. Presently, Monómeros operates under a sanctions waiver from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). General Manager Guillermo Rodríguez Laprea maintains that a return to Venezuelan government control would mean the company would become “immediately paralized” as the OFAC license would be void.
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