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Reuters
Reuters
Business
By Mayela Armas and Vivian Sequera

Venezuela need for dollars helped spark PDVSA graft probe -sources

FILE PHOTO: A sculpture depicting an oil tower on a hand of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA is pictured near the company's headquarters, in Caracas, Venezuela March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo

Venezuela's need for dollars to shore up its exchange rate and enable government largesse ahead of 2024 elections is among the motives for a crackdown on alleged corruption at state oil company PDVSA, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The arrests this week of more than 20 PDVSA officials prompted former oil minister Tareck El Aissami, long prominent in the government of President Nicolas Maduro, to resign. He was replaced by Pedro Rafael Tellechea, who had been named to head PDVSA in January.

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