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CARACAS, Thursday July 02, 2009 | Update

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Citgo is notified of collective lawsuit against President Chávez

Freedom Watch, a conservative political advocacy group dedicated to preserving civil liberties and human rights, had already announced in April that it is seeking a USD 5 billion compensation for punitive damages

Economy
Freedom Watch, a US non-governmental organization (NGO), announced on Thursday that it has formally notified the Venezuelan-run oil company Citgo about the class action filed against Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, for alleged acts of terrorism and violation of human rights.

Larry Klayman, founder and President of Freedom Watch, said that the Venezuelan government has 20 days to respond the lawsuit filed last April in a Miami court on behalf of the Venezuelan journalist Ricardo Guanipa who qualified for political asylum in the US since 2005.

The lawsuit was filed against Chávez, several government officials and against Citgo, a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United States of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (Pdvsa).

Freedom Watch, a conservative political advocacy group dedicated to preserving civil liberties and human rights, had already announced in April that it is seeking a USD 5 billion compensation for punitive damages, Efe reported.

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Bases of discord

04:17 PM. Western Hemisphere. "Damned empire; I curse you one thousand times; some day you will be finished off and wrecked. I curse you one thousand times, empire." This is the least that President Hugo Chávez has uttered to refer to the US government. In urging the Bolivarian Armed Forces to prepare for war, he said that a US raid on Venezuela through Colombia would trigger and spread over the region "the 100-year war."