Nicolás Maduro’s Oil Ministers, heads and tails of the same coin

Five of the eight Oil Ministers that Venezuela has had since the arrival of Nicolás Maduro to the Presidency, in 2013, have been accused of various crimes – mostly corruption -, of which four were arrested –the last, Pedro Tellechea– and one, according to authorities, is a “fugitive from justice.”

Tellechea, whose capture was made public this Monday after being detained over the weekend, became the fifth person who has been in charge of this institution to be accused by the Prosecutor’s Office, which accuses him of “serious” actions against the “most “high interests” of the country, among them the delivery of the “brain” of the state-owned PDVSA to a “company controlled by the intelligence services” of the United States.

Below are the Oil Ministers who have had the country with the largest proven reserves of crude oil since Maduro came to power in 2013:

Rafael Ramírez (2002-2014)

Nicolás Maduro and Rafael Ramírez. Photo: AFP

After leaving the ministry, he became Maduro’s chancellor for three months and then ambassador to the UN, until his resignation in 2017, when the Prosecutor’s Office announced an investigation against him and he left Venezuela. In 2020, the Supreme Court requested Italy – where he still lives – for his extradition for the crimes of “intentional embezzlement, evasion of the bidding procedure and association.”

Asdrúbal Chávez (2014-2015)

After 12 years of Ramírez’s “red red” era, a new face headed the institution starting in 2014, when the cousin of President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) was appointed Minister of Petroleum, a position he held until 2015. Then, In 2017, he was appointed president of Citgo – PDVSA’s subsidiary in the US – and in 2020, at the head of the Venezuelan state company.

Eulogio del Pino (2015-2016)

In 2015, the then president of PDVSA, Eulogio del Pino, also became minister, thanks to his “enough experience in the industry,” as Maduro described it at the time. In 2017, he was arrested for his alleged responsibility in a corruption case in the Petrozamora joint venture, in which 15 million barrels “valued at hundreds of millions of dollars” were lost, and accused of “intentional alteration of figures.”

Nelson Martínez (2017)

In January 2017, the then president of Citgo was appointed Minister of Petroleum, and in November of that year he was arrested, along with Del Pino, for his “alleged connection with the signing of the debt refinancing contract” of the company in the US. USA, “without having the approval of the Executive.” In December 2018, he died in state custody and, according to Chavismo, from “heart complications.”

Manuel Quevedo (2017-2020)

The Petrosur company, a subsidiary of the state oil company, is an example of this, as it will associate with Inversiones Petroleras Iberoamericanas | Photo: OPEC

In November 2017, the major general entered the ministry and PDVSA to carry out a “total restructuring” and achieve a “cleanup” in the company. Today he is a deputy of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and a member of the Security and Defense Commission of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament), controlled by Chavismo.

Tareck el Aissami (2020-2023)

Nicolás Maduro and Tareck el Aissami. Photo: AFP

If Ramírez was Chávez’s oil czar, Aissami was Maduro’swho appointed him minister of the area in April 2020 and commissioned a restructuring of the institution. Four years later, the former governor and former executive vice president was arrested for several crimes, including treason, appropriation or distraction of public assets and money laundering.

Pedro Tellechea (2023-2024)

Photo: Archive

After El Aissami’s resignation, he became Minister of Petroleum, a position he held until last August, when Maduro sent him to the portfolio of Industries and National Production, where he remained for less than two months, being replaced on October 18 by Alex Saab, who was imprisoned in the United States, accused of conspiracy to launder money. Tellechea, who clarified that he resigned due to “health problems,” was arrested this Sunday.

Delcy Rodríguez (2024-present)

Photo EFE

In August, and in the midst of a political crisis unleashed after Maduro’s controversial re-election in the July 28 elections, the head of state appointed his executive vice president as oil minister as part of a “renewal” of the Executive to form a “popular government.” and build “territorial socialism,” the president said then.