CARACAS: A bitter inheritance battle over the fortune of the late Venezuelan billionaire Oswaldo Cisneros has placed his widow, Mireya Blavia de Cisneros, and six children adopted by the couple in Romania and Colombia at the centre of litigation involving his three daughters from his first marriage. The dispute concerns inheritance rights and the control and administration of an estate linked to Venezuela’s telecommunications giant Digitel, oil, real estate and other businesses.
Oswaldo Cisneros had three daughters from his first marriage, before marrying Mireya Blavia de Cisneros, with whom he had no biological children. His three daughters, Claudia Susana Cisneros Fontanals, Maritza Blanca Cisneros Fontanals and María Ella Cisneros Fontanals, are involved in litigation concerning the inheritance rights of six internationally adopted children: Carmen Elena, Camila Roxana, Alfonso Olaf, Oswaldo Antonio, Laura Gissel and Carla Giovana.
The bitter dispute erupted following Oswaldo Cisneros’s death in Miami on November 8, 2020, pitting the Cisneros-Fontanals branch of the family against Mireya and the six adopted children. At the heart of the dispute are the children’s inheritance rights, Oswaldo’s testamentary arrangements and the administration of an estate that Venezuelan government sources say was valued by tax authorities at more than $10 billion.
The litigation has also been accompanied by allegations that Mireya sought to gain majority control over family trusts and businesses through the voting strength of the six adopted children, thereby diminishing the influence and inheritance interests of Oswaldo’s three daughters from his first marriage.
The controversy has acquired renewed significance amid allegations by Venezuelan government sources that the adoptions formed part of a long-term arrangement intended to alter voting power within family structures and give Mireya’s branch majority influence over trusts and businesses associated with the Cisneros fortune.
Oswaldo’s closed will, registered in Venezuela in December 2017, named Mireya and all nine children as his “sole and universal heirs”. However, lawyers representing Maritza Blanca, María Ella and Claudia Susana Cisneros Fontanals have questioned the testamentary arrangements, alleging that they disadvantaged the three daughters by giving the six adopted children greater collective influence over family interests.
The principal legal challenge was brought by Claudia Susana Cisneros Fontanals, who described herself in the proceedings as a legitimate, compulsory and testamentary heir of Oswaldo Cisneros.
On May 12, 2021, Claudia challenged the legal standing of the six Cisneros-Blavia children, arguing that the judgments through which they had been adopted by courts in Romania and Colombia had never undergone exequátur, the procedure by which certain foreign judgments are formally recognised in Venezuela.
She maintained that those adoption judgments could not produce legal effects in Venezuela and therefore could not establish the six as Oswaldo’s children for the purposes of the inheritance proceedings.
The challenge was initially successful. On August 3, 2021, the Social Cassation Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal held that the foreign adoption decisions required exequátur. It ruled that the six Cisneros-Blavia children lacked standing in the relevant succession proceedings and ordered related proceedings involving them to be archived.
Mireya sought constitutional review, and on January 31, 2022, the Constitutional Chamber annulled the August 2021 judgment, finding that qualifying international adoptions governed by the Hague Convention did not require the additional exequátur demanded by the Social Chamber.
The ruling defeated the attempt to exclude the six children on that particular legal ground, although it did not resolve every issue surrounding the inheritance dispute.
Claudia Susana Cisneros Fontanals also pursued a separate criminal complaint. In July 2021, a Caracas court admitted a complaint brought by Claudia against Mireya alleging private violence, extortion and association to commit crimes.
Claudia alleged that her stepmother had subjected her to unlawful pressure in connection with the dispute over Oswaldo Cisneros’s multibillion-dollar estate. The complaint alleged threats, coercion and other unlawful pressure intended to compel Claudia to perform or tolerate acts she was not legally required to accept. It also alleged conduct intended to secure a financial advantage or cause her financial loss.
The admission of the complaint did not constitute a finding of guilt, and the material available does not establish its final outcome.
The six adoptions have since returned to the centre of the controversy. Venezuelan government sources have alleged that they formed part of an arrangement that increased the voting strength of the Cisneros-Blavia side of the family, enabling Mireya’s branch to obtain majority influence over family structures following Oswaldo’s death, potentially at the expense of his three daughters.
One official alleged that irregularities and possible fabrication were involved in the adoptions, claiming that they were used as part of a scheme to obtain majority voting control of the family trust and diminish the interests of the three daughters. These allegations have not been established by the court rulings described above.
The inheritance battle has also intersected with scrutiny of the family’s tax affairs. Venezuelan government sources have alleged that the country’s SENIAT tax authority valued Oswaldo Cisneros’s estate at more than $10 billion and calculated a potential inheritance-tax liability exceeding $3 billion.
One official claimed that there was no record of the amount having been paid and that authorities were examining inheritance and succession-tax obligations following Oswaldo’s death. The figures and payment status have not been independently verified.
Government sources have separately alleged wider personal and corporate tax liabilities, underinvestment, bribery, political kickbacks and irregularities involving businesses associated with the family, including telecommunications operator Digitel, as well as oil and real estate interests.
A legal source representing Mireya has disputed aspects of the government’s allegations while acknowledging problems involving underinvestment and unfulfilled commitments, attributing some of those difficulties to US sanctions affecting Venezuela’s financial system.
Mireya Blavia de Cisneros has consequently faced scrutiny over the management of family interests spanning telecommunications, oil and real estate. Venezuelan government officials have alleged failures to meet investment commitments, outstanding personal and corporate tax liabilities and possible corruption involving business dealings during the presidency of Nicolás Maduro.
Particular attention has focused on Digitel, one of Venezuela’s largest mobile telecommunications operators and a major asset associated with the Cisneros family.
Mireya has also faced allegations concerning her political and business connections with former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Government sources have described her as a close ally of Maduro and have raised suspicions that she has continued lobbying on his behalf. Those claims require independent corroboration.
Speaking about the inheritance dispute, a legal representative for Mireya Blavia de Cisneros said that she would continue to contest the legal challenges brought by Claudia Susana Cisneros Fontanals.
