Excerpt from the brief filed on August 28, 2020 by the DOJ in opposition to the CITGO shares auction

“The United States is not trying to “effectively seize Crystallex’s” property interest in a writ of attachment, D.I. 219 at 1; to the contrary, the United States recognizes that “Venezuela owes Crystallex from a judgment that has been affirmed in our courts,” D.I. 212 at 13 (quoting D.I. 174 at 3). It submits, however, that proceeding toward a forced sale of Venezuela’s largest and most important foreign asset at this time could render significant foreign policy harm to the United States. This Court should consider the foreign policy consequences of authorizing steps toward such a sale, and should defer to the U.S. Government’s articulation of its foreign policy and assessment of the likely consequences of proceeding toward a sale at this time. Accordingly, the United States respectfully asks the Court to refrain from authorizing an auction and sale of PDVH shares unless and until OFAC approves Crystallex’s license application.” 
 

The DOJ position can be summarized as follows: Yes, Venezuela must pay Crystallex the expropriation award, but the court should not allow the amount due to be collected through the CITGO shares auction. The reason for this being that the CITGO shares auction would have a negative impact on U.S.A. foreign relations strategy and policy (i.e. making President Guaido responsible for the loss of CITGO in the eyes of the Venezuelan people).
 

The DOJ did not volunteer any suggestions on how to avoid the injustice of not allowing Crystallex to collect what it is owed after winning all the legal challenges all the way to the Supreme Court. Not allowing Crystallex to collect from Venezuela now would be an abject miscarriage of justice that a U.S. court would never approve. Therefore, Venezuela and the U.S. government had better hustle to find another way to pay Crystallex, if they want to foreclose the CITGO shares auction. Otherwise, they will face another legal defeat at the Delaware court. Venezuela and the U.S. government must surely know this and would be grossly negligent if they are not ready to act proactively to avoid it. If they do not act proactively, the whole thing would unmask as a poorly concocted bluff.