PDVSA’s annual financial statements don’t appear to mention the company pension fund’s loss of $480-odd million to a US-based Ponzi scheme. I hope someday that such a loss will be an immaterial issue for my accounts.
Setty's notebook
Steven Bodzin's energy and natural resources notes, mostly about Latin America
Setty's notebook 
Since the money was lost in the United States through nefarious capitalistic shenanigans, perhaps Rafael Ramirez should file a claim against the US with ICSID courts? The score would be 32 cases against 1 (32 – 1) at the World Bank,….and, ….and, … then the Venezuela government could demand, “we won’t pay your claims until you pay us ours.” That would kick everything down the road, …oh, say,….15 years or so. Sound logic, no?
Cute note, but no. Forget Ramírez. The claim should come from the workers themselves, and not against the US government but rather against everyone who contributed to the loss. They should plead for intervenor status in the US lawsuit so that they can be sure the money is returned to them, and not to PDVSA, whose mismanagement caused the losses in the first place. They should also sue the company for mismanaging the pension money. That the fund was “made whole” by a gift of bonds is little solace for workers who invested real money and now have no assurance that the money is being properly managed.