Venezuela Arrests Former Oil Minister Tellechea Linked to Crimes Against National Sovereignty
Pedro Tellechea, 2024. X/ @Venezuela_Mnoal
October 21, 2024 Hour: 12:57 pm
He is implicated in handing over PDVSA’s command system to a company linked to U.S. intelligence agencies.
On Monday, Venezuela’s Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, confirmed that Pedro Tellechea, former Oil Minister and former president of the state-owned company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), was arrested along with his closest collaborators in the early hours of Sunday.
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The information was released through a statement indicating that this action is the result of an “exhaustive scientific investigation” and is part of an effort to combat “serious crimes that threaten the highest interests of the nation.”
The Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office indicated that Tellechea is implicated in handing over the automated control and command system, which operates as the “brain of PDVSA,” to a company linked to U.S. intelligence agencies.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, this act not only represents a violation of legal mechanisms but also compromises Venezuela’s national sovereignty.
In January 2023, President Nicolas Maduro appointed Tellechea as PDVSA president, and two and a half months later, he also appointed him Oil Minister, replacing Tareck El Aissami, who had resigned amid an investigation into a corruption scheme within PDVSA that led to over fifty arrests.
In August 2024, Tellechea left the Oil Ministry and was appointed Minister of Industries, a position he resigned from last week due to “health reasons,” according to his statement.
Venezuela’s Attorney General emphasized that Tellechea’s arrest was carried out “in strict adherence to the law” and with the “full constitutional cooperation of the Head of State.”
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE – Attorney General’s Office
