CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela on Monday said it had arrested two managers at state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, alleging that they sent confidential information to the U.S. government.
In a statement broadcast on state television, a commission appointed by socialist President Nicolas Maduro to restructure the OPEC nation’s oil industry said authorities on Friday detained Alfredo Chirinos and Aryenis Torrealba, who were managers in the company’s supply and trading department.
Reuters had previously reported their arrests, which took place after the United States ramped up sanctions on PDVSA and some of its trading partners. Washington has been pressuring Venezuela to oust Maduro, who it calls a corrupt dictator usurping power after rigging a 2018 re-election vote.
Relatives of the two managers, as well as some prominent supporters of the ruling socialist party, took to social media over the weekend to argue that they were innocent and were being targeted for denouncing corruption within the company. A march on Monday was planned to demand their release.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
