Venezuela’s chief prosecutor on Thursday ordered the arrest of the former head of the state oil company, accusing him of bankrupting the downtrodden country’s primary source of income.
Officials also announced that Venezuela is expelling the Spanish ambassador, a move that further isolates the Latin American nation from the international community.
Former Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) president Rafael Ramirez is wanted on suspicion of money laundering and embezzlement, Venezuelan Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab said.
He called Ramirez the “father of corruption” at the oil company.
“You used to make millionaires of your family members,” Saab said on state TV. “Mr Ramirez, we inform you that you are cited by this ministry.”
Ramirez’s associates have been a target of the Saab-led crackdown on corruption at troubled PDVSA that began late last year. Dozens of officials have been arrested, including two former oil ministers and Ramirez’s cousin, Diego Salazar.
Salazar has been jailed on suspicion of helping siphon off US$1.6 billion to banks in Andorra.
Ramirez, who ran PDVSA for more than a decade, early last month resigned from his three-year UN post on orders from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Both were close to former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, but their rivalry became apparent last year when Ramirez began publishing articles critical of Maduro.
Ramirez has denied taking part in any corruption scheme and has not made his whereabouts public after leaving New York.
On Sunday, he published an article asking Maduro for safe passage to challenge him in primaries for the presidential election this year as a candidate of the socialist ruling party.
The Venezuelan Constituent National Assembly has approved holding the presidential election by the end of April — drawing broad international condemnation for setting the vote months ahead of when it has traditionally taken place.
The US will not recognize the results of Venezuela’s “snap” presidential election if it is held, US Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, adding that the vote would be “neither free nor fair.”
In yet another criminal case, Saab said he is opening an investigation into Tomas Guanipa, a member of the opposition-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly.
Without providing any details, Saab said Guanipa is suspected of inciting violence during anti-government protests last year that resulted in more than 120 deaths.
Earlier in the day, Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza announced that Venezuela was declaring Spanish Ambassador to Venezuela Jesus Silva Fernandez persona non grata.
Arreaza accused Spain of “imperialist and supremacist” meddling in its affairs.
The action came days after Spain and the other countries in the EU imposed economic and travel sanctions on seven senior Venezuelan officials accused of human rights abuses or breaching the rule of law.
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