(CNN Spanish) –– The Venezuelan Oil Minister, Tareck El Aissami, announced his resignation from the position through his Twitter account. According to him, the decision occurs “by virtue of the investigations that have been initiated into serious acts of corruption in Petróleos de Venezuela” and with the objective of “accompanying and fully supporting this process.”
In a message that he published on the same social network, the also vice president of the economic area “placed himself at the command” of the leadership of the government party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, “to support the crusade undertaken by President Nicolás Maduro against the anti-values that we are obliged to combat”.
The resignation of El Aissami, one of the dolphins of the Chavista regime, occurs after a hectic weekend in Venezuela. In the last few hours, at least 5 senior officials have been arrested after an investigation launched by the country’s authorities for alleged acts of corruption.
A source close to the Venezuelan judicial system confirmed to CNN this Sunday that the National Anti-Corruption Police detained deputy Hugbel Roa, of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, in the last few hours. Roa had held the position of Minister of Higher Education and had already been a deputy in the period 2016-2021. Details of the charges against him are unknown. As he is a legislator, it is up to the National Assembly to lift Roa’s parliamentary immunity. At the moment, there is no call for such action.
CNN tried to get a reaction from both Roa and his defense without having received a response so far.
Through a statement, the Public Ministry reported that in the face of the arrests by the National Anti-Corruption Police of a group of public officials, it began “the pertinent proceedings for their prosecution,” including the appointment of prosecutors with jurisdiction over corruption, organized crime, human rights, and jurisdiction. full.
In the letter, the authorities do not specify the names or the number of people arrested. However, they emphasize that “they correspond to different branches and levels of public power.”
The Bolivarian National Police confirmed through a statement broadcast this Sunday by the State channel the arrest of the judge in charge of the fourth court of first instance with competence in crimes associated with terrorism, José Mascimino Márquez García.
The judge was in possession of the cases of former deputy Freddy Guevara and journalist Roland Carreño, both belonging to the opposition party Voluntad Popular.
The same statement confirms the arrest of officials Joselit Ramírez Camacho, head of the National Superintendence of Cryptoactives and related activities (Sunacrip); the President of the Caracas Judicial Circuit, Cristóbal Cornieles Perret; and the mayor of the Las Tejerías municipality, in Aragua state, Pedro Hernández.
CNN has tried to contact Márquez, Ramírez, Cornieles and Hernández, as well as their defense, but has so far received no response.
This occurs hours after a first statement from the National Anti-Corruption Police reported that it requested the Public Prosecutor’s Office to prosecute individuals linked to the judiciary, the oil industry and the mayors who, according to the letter, “could be involved in serious acts of administrative corruption and embezzlement.
They also highlight that they carried out an in-depth investigation for months that, as they describe in the text, “targets citizens who exercised functions in the judiciary, the oil industry and in some municipal mayors of the country.”
Let us remember that, in June 2020, the United States publicly offered a reward of US$5 million to anyone who facilitates the capture of Ramírez Camacho. According to the Justice Department statement, Ramírez would have ties to alleged drug lords, including the current vice president of the economic area and Venezuela’s oil minister, Tareck El Aissami. The Southern District of the United States accuses Ramírez of evading sanctions related to narcotics and of alleged money laundering while holding public office in Venezuela.
El Aissami responded in February 2017 through a letter published in the American newspaper The New York Times assuring that it is a false accusation and asked the US authorities to rectify.
The Government of Venezuela reacted in June 2020 through a statement to the sanctions issued against Ramírez Camacho, rejecting what they considered an aggression and an act of persecution against the official and questioning the then president, Donald Trump.