Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is getting ready to announce executive changes at state-owned company PDVSA and the oil ministry, part of key official moves following a disputed election, three sources with knowledge of the preparations said.
The changes could include replacing PDVSA’s chief executive, Pedro Tellechea, with the company’s current vice president, Hector Obregon, and appointing a new oil minister, the sources said.
Tellechea was appointed by Maduro to run PDVSA in January 2023. Two months later, he was also given the oil ministry following the resignation of Tareck El Aissami amid a widespread anti-corruption probe that ultimately prompted the former minister’s arrest.
Obregon is a lawyer who was added to PDVSA’s executive board last year as part of his government responsibilities, which also include positions at the finance ministry and Venezuela’s development bank.
PDVSA and the oil ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tellechea had been asked earlier this month to complete an audit of his tenure as PDVSA’s head, separate sources said. He asked the company’s division chiefs to prepare detailed reports of achievements and accountability through the end of July.
Tellechea promised to target endemic corruption at the financially troubled company while hoping to win over its thousands of workers, a move critical to securing much-needed cash for the country.
A disputed presidential election in late July in which Venezuela’s National Electoral Council awarded victory to incumbent Maduro despite opposition claims that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez was the real winner, has sent the South American country into another spiral of instability.
Dozens of employees at PDVSA, the oil ministry and other parts of the public sector have been forced to resign since the election over their political views, workers and unions have said.
(Reporting by Mircely Guanipa, Deisy Buitrago and Marianna Parraga)