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Venezuelan National Assembly Wants To Protect $3.2B From Maduro

One National Assembly official said they'd identified 72 international accounts and have protected 80 percent of the country's liquid assets.

Venezuelan National Assembly Wants To Protect $3.2B From Maduro
Venezuelan National Assembly
SMS

Venezuela's National Assembly says it's found $3.2 billion at banks around the world that it wants to protect from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

One Venezuelan National Assembly official said in a press conference on Monday that, to date, assembly members have identified 72 international accounts and have "protected 80 percent of the country's liquid assets." 

He also said all of the Venezuelan accounts in the U.S. are protected and cannot be "misused by Nicolás Maduro." 

Last month, the State Department said it gave control of certain assets held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other U.S.-insured banks in Venezuela to Juan Guaidó. 

He's the U.S.-backed opposition leader, the head of the Venezuelan National Assembly and self-proclaimed interim president of the country. Several countries have backed him.

Maduro, who was sworn in for a second term earlier this year, has refused to step down, claiming the U.S. is involved in a coup attempt against him.