June 04, 2016 - 5:26 PM
ASUNCION, Paraguay - Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has given Paraguay a 10-day deadline to pay a $287 million debt for crudes sales dating back to 2009.
Felipe Oddone, communications director for Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, says his country would, for now, only be able to pay 50 per cent of the debt.
Oddone said Saturday that the president of Paraguay's state oil company Petropar had received a note from PDVSA "giving a deadline of 10 days to pay or else an international demand would be initiated."
He also said that according to Petropar's figures, the debt is only $273 million.
The demand comes a week after Paraguay's foreign minister called for a meeting of the regional trade group Mercosur to analyze the crisis in Venezuela, which is suffering from food shortages and soaring inflation, and facing calls to released jailed members of the opposition.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016