http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39648675
"We have been experiencing four consecutive years of recession, we have the highest inflation in the world and are facing scarcity in many basic goods. It is scandalous that Venezuela, facing such a crisis, would make those donations to the inauguration of a US president, who at least in theory, is ideologically confronted with the revolution," Jose Manuel Puente, a professor of public policy at IESA university in Caracas, tells the BBC.
The payment was reportedly made through Citgo, a US subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA.
It is not the first time Citgo has been involved in politically controversial activities in the US. President Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, used the company a few years ago to provide subsidised fuel to low-income citizens in several major US cities.
His critics said then it was a propaganda ploy designed to annoy his ideological rivals at the White House.
But now the Maduro administration would seem to be in a less confrontational mode towards Washington.
"We have been experiencing four consecutive years of recession, we have the highest inflation in the world and are facing scarcity in many basic goods. It is scandalous that Venezuela, facing such a crisis, would make those donations to the inauguration of a US president, who at least in theory, is ideologically confronted with the revolution," Jose Manuel Puente, a professor of public policy at IESA university in Caracas, tells the BBC.
The payment was reportedly made through Citgo, a US subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA.
It is not the first time Citgo has been involved in politically controversial activities in the US. President Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, used the company a few years ago to provide subsidised fuel to low-income citizens in several major US cities.
His critics said then it was a propaganda ploy designed to annoy his ideological rivals at the White House.
But now the Maduro administration would seem to be in a less confrontational mode towards Washington.
