A New York judge ruled friday that Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's 2020 bonds are valid, a setback for opposition leader Juan Guaidó calling for null and void to prevent creditors from staying with Citgo.

"The court declares that the 2020 bonds and the documents governing them are valid and enforceable," Manhattan Federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla wrote in a 68-page ruling.

The bonds were issued by the government of President Nicolás Maduro in 2016 in a debt redemption, and are guaranteed 50.1% of the shares of refiner Citgo, PDVSA'sU.S. subsidiary and Venezuela's largest overseas asset.

Last October, PDVSA stopped paying capital and interest on securities. Guaidó's team, considered Venezuela's interim president by the United States and nearly 60 countries, also stopped paying interest in the United States.

The judge noted in her ruling that "a default has occurred" and that trustee MUFG Union Bank can sell the collateral that guaranteed the bonds, that is, Citgo.

In a statement, Guaidó's office crossed out the "unfair" decision, claiming to support "conducting the necessary assessments to consider all legal options, including appeal."

The ruling is "direct consequence of the irresponsible borrowing policies" of the Maduro government, the document notes.

Guaidó's team took control of Citgo last year. The opposition leader sought justice to declare bonds null and void so as not to have to pay creditors.

Guaidó claimed that the bonds should have been approved by the National Assembly, the unicameral parliament and only power held by the opposition, and they were not.

"We insist that the issuance of these PDVSA-2020 Bonds (...) it's absolutely fraudulent," the parliamentary chief's statement reiterated.

Despite the ruling, creditors will not be able to immediately access Citgo's shares.

Following sanctions against Venezuela by the United States, which seeks to overthrow Maduro, until January 19, 2021, bondholders cannot keep Citgo shares to collect their money.

Guaidó sees this decision as a "protective measure" that allows the nullity of the bond to be sued "without risk of losing Citgo".

The country's external debt with the largest oil reserves amounts to more than $140 billion, according to the ecoanalytic consultancy.

With production going from 3.2 million barrels per day, 12 years ago, to about 400,000 barrels a day today, Venezuela's oil industry is mired in a serious crisis, which experts attribute to poor management and corruption cases.