Venezuela arrests ex-oil minister accused of U.S. links

Venezuela on Monday announced the arrest of a former oil minister accused of links to a firm controlled by U.S. intelligence services -- the latest scandal to shake the crisis-hit country's energy sector.

Pedro Tellechea, who served as petroleum minister and head of state oil company PDVSA until August, was detained on Sunday along with "his closest collaborators," Attorney General Tarek William Saab said in a statement.

They are accused of crimes including "the delivery" of PDVSA's automated control system "to a company controlled by the US intelligence services," it said, without naming the other detainees.

It said that handing over "the brain of PDVSA" to the unnamed firm violated "national sovereignty."

The new allegations rocking the South American country's creaking oil industry come almost three months after President Nicolas Maduro's disputed reelection.

Maduro tapped Tellechea, an army colonel, to be oil minister in March 2023 after his predecessor Tareck El Aissami resigned over an anti-corruption crackdown.

El Aissami -- a former ally of Maduro and his late predecessor Hugo Chavez -- was later arrested along with dozens of others as part of a probe into an alleged multi-million dollar crypto fraud at PDVSA.

Tellechea, a 48-year-old mechanical engineer by training, vowed to "clean up" the sector after his appointment, but he stepped down in August to become industry minister.

On Friday, Maduro replaced him in that post with his ally Alex Saab, the Colombian businessman released by the United States in December as part of a prisoner swap.

Tellechea said on social media that he had resigned as industry minister due to "health problems that require my immediate attention."

- World's biggest reserves -

The United States, Europe and many Latin American countries refused to recognize Maduro's July reelection amid opposition claims of fraud.

Protests following the vote claimed 27 lives and saw more than 2,400 people arrested.

Venezuela has the world's largest proven reserves of oil and once produced more than three million barrels a day of oil -- long its only notable earner of foreign currency.

Following years of mismanagement and crushing sanctions, output has dropped to less than one million barrels, although Washington has allowed companies such as Chevron and Repsol to apply for individual licenses to keep operating in Venezuela.

The sector has been hit by a string of scandals that have claimed several top officials.

Rafael Ramirez, who was oil minister from 2002 to 2014, is a fugitive in Italy and Venezuelan authorities have requested his extradition without success.

Two other former petroleum ministers, Eulogio del Pino and Nelson Martinez, were arrested in Venezuela.

Martinez subsequently died in prison.

Last year Saab said his office had investigated 27 "corruption schemes" in PDVSA since 2017, detaining over 200 individuals including top managers in the industry.