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Caracas (AFP) – At least 19 officials and their “front men” have been arrested in Venezuela in a “crusade” against mafias within the state oil company PDVSA, according to the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez. The complaints led to the resignation of the Oil Minister, Tareck El Aissami.
The Government of Venezuela assures that it will face corruption with a “firm position”, in the midst of the investigation that is being carried out in the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and other sectors of the Government.
“There are 19 detainees so far and I’m sure more are coming,” said the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, during a session in which an agreement was approved to support the actions announced last Friday, March 17, by the National Police. against Corruption (PNCC).
The body, which acts under confidentiality, asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the “judicial prosecution” of officials who “could be involved in serious acts of corruption and embezzlement,” said the official.
Among the detainees is the deputy Hugbel Roa, who was stripped of his parliamentary immunity on Tuesday, March 21 by “unanimity”, a procedure that occurred after being accused of acts of corruption in PDVSA.
In addition, the Minister of Oil, Tareck El Aissami, resigned from his position on Monday, in the framework of these investigations. The man, who held said portfolio since 2020, ruled that he leaves the ministry “with the purpose of fully supporting, accompanying and backing” the process.
“The request is that the immunity be cleared so that the prosecution can proceed,” said the parliamentarian and powerful Chavista leader Diosdado Cabello when presenting the arguments to request the measure against Roa, close to El Aissami.
“We have lifted the parliamentary immunity of some deputies”
Arrested on Sunday, Roa, who also served as minister of University Education, Science and Technology, was one of the creators of the Venezuelan cryptocurrency Petro backed by the country’s vast crude oil reserves.
Among his “front men” was the businessman Alejandro Arroyo, “owner of a mansion in the Country Club – an exclusive urbanization in Caracas – a huge fleet of trucks and soccer teams,” a source linked to the investigations told AFP.
“Here we have abolished the parliamentary immunity of some deputies, some have resigned for being involved in crimes as serious as drug trafficking,” said Cabello, considered the number two of Chavismo.
President Nicolás Maduro, who previously announced actions against corruption, questioned on March 20 that several of his former collaborators, now detained, led a life of “nouveau riche” and full of “extravagances.”
Prosecutor Tarek William Saab pointed out that since 2017 the Public Ministry has investigated 27 “corruption schemes” in PDVSA, with a balance of more than 200 detainees. Among them, top industry managers.