CARACAS: Venezuelan authorities have arrested former oil minister Pedro Tellechea, who is accused of connections to a company linked to U.S. intelligence services, according to a statement from the public prosecutor’s office on Monday.
Tellechea, who served as petroleum minister and head of the state oil company PDVSA until August, was detained on Sunday along with several of his close collaborators, Attorney General Tarek William Saab reported. They face allegations of transferring PDVSA’s automated control system to a firm associated with U.S. intelligence, although the other detainees were not named.
President Nicolas Maduro appointed Tellechea, an army colonel, as oil minister in March 2023 following the resignation of his predecessor, Tareck El Aissami, amid an anti-corruption crackdown. El Aissami and many others were subsequently arrested as part of an investigation into an alleged multi-million-dollar cryptocurrency fraud at PDVSA.
Tellechea, who has a background in mechanical engineering, stepped down in August to take on the role of industry minister. On Friday, Maduro replaced him with Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who was released by the United States in December as part of a prisoner swap.
Tellechea stated on social media that his resignation was due to “health problems that require my immediate attention.” Venezuela’s oil sector has been frequently marred by scandals, and Rafael Ramirez, the oil minister from 2002 to 2014, is currently a fugitive in Italy.
