Maduro refuses to release US citizens arrested in Venezuela’s oil graft sweep
Washington/Caracas — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday that Venezuelan-American executives at refiner Citgo who were arrested in a corruption sweep this week would be tried as "corrupt, thieving traitors", despite a request by the US to free them. Five of six executives of US-based refiner Citgo who were arrested in Caracas this week are US citizens, according to a source familiar with the matter, possibly complicating Venezuela’s corruption sweep of the oil industry. The six executives included acting Citgo president Jose Pereira, who has Venezuelan citizenship and US permanent residency, the source said. Citgo did not respond to requests for comment. Late on Wednesday, Maduro tapped Asdrubal Chavez, a former oil minister and cousin of the late president Hugo Chavez, to replace Pereira. Military intelligence agents detained the Texas-based executives during an event at state oil company PDVSA’s headquarters in Caracas on Tuesday, two sources told Reuters. US-bas...
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