Venezuelan authorities have arrested former oil minister Pedro Tellechea for violating “the highest interests of the nation” by handing over a control system of the state giant PDVSA to a company that is “controlled by US intelligence services,” the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office reported on Monday.
Tellechea, who held the oil portfolio until last August, when he was replaced by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, is believed to have committed irregularities by handing over the Automated Control and Command System, described by the Public Prosecutor’s Office as the true “brain” of PDVSA. Last Friday, he had been removed from the Ministry of Industry and National Production, without the reasons being disclosed.
His arrest was finally confirmed on Sunday, following an “exhaustive investigation” that, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, also extended “to his closest collaborators.” He is accused of committing “serious crimes” and violating national sovereignty.
“These actions by the Public Prosecutor’s Office have been carried out in strict compliance with the law, with the full constitutional cooperation of the head of state, in the permanent battle to defend the institutional integrity of the country,” reads the note signed by the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab.
