Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro appoints a new Minister of Petroleum

Tareck El Assaimi, one of the pillars of the Chavista regime, takes the reins of the Ministry of Petroleum, a key sector for the economy and in the midst of collapse. YURI CORTEZ / AFP

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Nicolas Maduro has appointed a "hard" Chaviste Tareck El Aissami, Minister of Petroleum. His task will be to "restructure and reorganize" the oil sector at a time when crude prices are collapsing, indicates the decree signed by the Socialist president and published in the Official Journal on Monday.

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Since November 2017, the presidency of PDVSA and the Ministry of Petroleum have been in the hands of one man, General Manuel Quevedo. In the decree published yesterday, Nicolas Maduro dissociates the two structures by appointing Asdrubal Chavez, a cousin of the late president Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), at the head of the public oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

Tareck El Aissami, influential and controversial

The new Minister of Petroleum, Tareck El Aissami, is one of the pillars of the Venezuelan political system and was close to Hugo Chavez. An influential member of the PSUV, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, in 2008 he was appointed Minister of the Interior and Justice. But he has also been under American sanctions since 2017, on charges of "drug trafficking". American justice also charged him with "narco-terrorism" last March, as did Nicolas Maduro and 13 other prominent Venezuelan officials and former officials. Washington offers $ 10 million for information leading to the arrest of Tareck El Aissami, and $ 15 million for information leading to the capture of the head of state.

► Read also : The vice-president of Venezuela on the American list of drug lords

The oil sector in Venezuela generates more than 90% of the country's income, but the collapse in crude prices is currently penalizing all producing countries. The price of a Venezuelan barrel fell to less than 10 dollars (9.90 dollars) at the end of last week, reaching a bottom seen more since 1998 (9.38 dollars). On the other hand, Venezuela's oil production is in free fall. From three million barrels per day in 2008, it has dropped to less than 700,000 barrels per day at present, according to figures communicated by Caracas to OPEC.

► Also to listen : in Venezuela, gasoline shortage for the world's largest oil reserve  

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