Venezuela opposition says it's impossible to pay for legal representation

The void in the group's leadership, following the ousting of Juan Guaid as its recognized president, has made it impossible to pay for legal representation to defend the dozens of billion-dollar lawsuits that the nation faces in the United States, according to Bloomberg's opposition leader Leopoldo L pez.

The opposition, which relied on Venezuelan government accounts frozen by sanctions in the US to finance its operations, hasn't been granted a license by the Treasury s Office of Foreign Assets Control to access the funds, L pez said in an interview in Washington. Accounts holding $347 million were previously in control of Guaid, whom the US recognized as Venezuela's lawful president.

By February, the opposition had an estimated $9.4 million debt with seven law firms representing Venezuela's legal battles abroad, according to a report presented to lawmakers by former Attorney General Enrique S nchez Falc n. It also owes approximately $2,000 in monthly wages to their more than 100 lawmakers, according to four people familiar with the situation.

According to Snchez Falc's last update in February, Venezuela faces at least 145 trials worth $26 billion abroad, most of them in the US. A trial in a District of Columbia court is taking place for the expropriation of oil rights to ConocoPhillips, for which the company received an order to get $10 billion from the country.

L pez said in a visit to Bloomberg's Washington bureau that the possibility of continuing legal support is something that is still to be defined with the dismantling of the interim government. Without a license that allows that, that is not possible right now. It is the same for lawmakers. Read more: US takes over the Embassy in Venezuela in wake of the Guaid Vote.

The severe funding shortage is the most recent setback for the opposition after the dissolution of Juan Guaid's so-called interim government at the beginning of the year. In February, the opposition also lost access to Venezuela's diplomatic properties in the US.

L pez testified in a hearing on the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Democracy and Human Rights on the need for the US to lead the way in new forms of targeted sanctions for corrupt officials in countries such as Venezuela.

According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, the opposition leaders and US authorities are in ongoing talks to get a certification and regain access to the funds.

The US State Department didn't respond to a request for comment on talks with the opposition regarding the plan. The Treasury Department didn't say anything about the issuance of new licenses.

"We hope there is a license that allows Venezuelans' interest to be represented rightly in the different courts," L pez said.