Venezuela’s oil minister resigns: Police arrest 6 in corruption sweep

Mar 22, 2023 News

Reuters – Venezuela’s oil minister Tareck El Aissami said yesterday he will resign and at least six officials were arrested following investigations by police into corruption, including at state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

“In light of the investigations that have begun about serious occurrences of corruption at PDVSA, I have taken the decision to present my resignation as Minister of Oil, with the intent to support, accompany and totally back this process,” El Aissami, who has been minister since 2020, said on Twitter.

Venezuela’s oil minister Tareck El Aissami meeting with Energy Minister Stuart Young.

Venezuelan anti-graft police arrested a mayor, two judges and three government officials, at least two of whom are connected with PDVSA, state television and sources familiar with the matter said earlier on Monday.

Arresting government officials for corruption is rare in Venezuela, which rights groups such as Transparency International have described as opaque.

El Aissami has been under US sanctions since 2017 for alleged connections to drug trafficking, which he denies.

According to sources familiar with the case, the arrested officials include Colonel Antonio Perez, a former vice president in charge of commerce and supply at PDVSA, and Colonel Samuel Testamarck, general manager of PDVSA’s maritime arm PDV Marina.

One source said the PDVSA arrests were linked to an investigation into oil cargoes leaving the country without due payment to the company, and that other executives have been suspended from their posts.

PDVSA suffered heavy losses last year as tankers left Venezuela without proper payments being made for cargo. New PDVSA boss Pedro Tellechea ordered an audit and suspended oil supply contracts shortly after taking over the role in January.

Neither PDVSA nor the prosecutor’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.

The arrests are the largest recent crackdown on alleged PDVSA corruption.

In 2017 several executives and two former presidents of the company were arrested, while in 2018 authorities detained a number of executives for administrative irregularities.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister Stuart Young, who is leading negotiations with Venezuela on the Dragon Gas deal, has met with El Aissami during his trips to that country. Young has made several trips to Venezuela since January when the United States granted Trinidad and Tobago an exemption to bring natural gas here from the Bolivarian Republic’s Dragon field.

• corruption, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), police, Tareck El Aissami, Venezuela’s oil minister