CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuelan authorities have arrested former industry and oil minister Pedro Tellechea, attorney general Tarek Saab said on Monday, citing the alleged commission of “grave crimes against the highest interests of the nation.”
In a statement on Instagram, Saab said Tellechea had been arrested in the early hours of Sunday alongside with his closest collaborators, whom he did not name.
Tellechea was responsible for handing over control of a part of state oil firm PDVSA to a company controlled by U.S. intelligence services, Saab added, without providing further details.
Tellechea had announced his resignation in a social media post on Friday, citing “health issues.”
President Nicholas Maduro announced Tellechea’s replacement, Maduro’s close ally Alex Saab, the same day. Alex Saab was freed in a prisoner exchange with the United States late last year after being held over money laundering charges.
(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Julia Symmes Cobb)
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