The sudden resignation of one of Venezuela’s most powerful ministers has exposed tensions at the top of President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government and triggered fears of a broader political purge.
Tareck El Aissami resigned on Monday as oil minister, saying he wanted to “support, follow and totally back” an investigation into serious corruption at the state oil group Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the backbone of the South American country’s economy.
In a televised speech after a meeting of the ruling socialist party, Maduro called on Venezuelans to “go on the offensive against the corrupt, the bandits, the delinquents, the criminals”. He added: “We are in a difficult and conflictive transition from a society corrupted by capitalism to a society with a culture of work, solidarity, equality and sharing.”
El Aissami, a longtime Maduro ally, has a $10mn US government reward on his head for allegedly facilitating drug trafficking from Venezuela. He played a key role in helping Caracas dodge US economic sanctions, using his Syrian and Lebanese parentage to open up new business channels to Iran and Turkey.
Maduro said that “very important business people, top officials at state entities and lawmakers” had been arrested in the first phase of the corruption investigation, raising the question of how extensive the crackdown might be.
Among those detained was Joselit Ramírez, who led Venezuela’s cryptocurrency regulator and was indicted on money laundering charges in 2020 in the Southern District of New York, accused of helping El Aissami evade sanctions by issuing digital currency.
In a country where graft has been endemic for decades, investors and analysts on Tuesday questioned what the true motive for El Aissami’s downfall might be. Venezuela was ranked 177th out of 180 in Transparency International’s latest corruption perception index.
“We’re talking about the architect of Maduro’s sanctions evasion strategy,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela expert at WOLA in Washington. “If anyone knows where the bodies are buried, it’s El Aissami. The most important thing to watch now is whether he will be given a soft landing, or if Maduro will go after him more directly.”
Some Venezuela-watchers questioned whether El Aissami had been caught in a power struggle between the Maduro clan and a rival faction headed by vice-president Delcy Rodríguez and her brother Jorge, the head of congress.
Francisco Monaldi, a Venezuelan oil expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute, pointed out that oil sales to the black market in China, circumventing US sanctions, had led to immense graft.
“As much as one-third of the oil sales have not been collected by PDVSA. It has been a feast for corrupt intermediaries,” Monaldi said. “But selective prosecution is used for purging political rivals.”
Venezuela boasts the world’s largest proven oil reserves and pumped more than 3mn barrels a day in its heyday. However, years of mismanagement, US sanctions and the expulsion of most foreign oil companies have reduced output to well below 1mn b/d.
El Aissami previously served as vice-president and interior minister before taking the oil job nearly three years ago. He oversaw negotiations that led to Chevron receiving a licence last year from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control to restart its operations in Venezuela.
Maduro, who has survived a decade in power despite numerous attempts to oust him, said in his speech on Monday night that El Aissami had “confirmed his status as a revolutionary” by agreeing to help the investigation.
Elections, which have not been considered free by international watchdogs since 2013, are scheduled for next year in Venezuela. Maduro is widely expected to win again by capitalising on his control of state media, the election machinery and government funds.
The economy has started to grow again after a precipitous decline which wiped out nearly three-quarters of GDP. But inflation is running at 350 per cent a year, staple foodstuffs and medicines are too expensive for most Venezuelans and inequality has worsened. About 7mn people have fled the country since 2015.
Juan Guaidó, an opposition leader who was until recently recognised by the US and dozens of other countries as Venezuela’s interim president, said in a statement that El Aissami’s resignation was proof of the Maduro government’s widespread corruption. “It is a confession of how they have pillaged the country,” he said.