Venezuela’s powerful oil tsar resigns amid corruption inquiry

Venezuela’s powerful petroleum minister has announced his resignation following the detention of at least six high-level officials amid a corruption inquiry focused on state-run company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), the judiciary, and other parts of the government.

Tareck El Aissami announced his resignation on Twitter on March 20 and pledged to help the investigation of any allegations involving PDVSA, while also offering support to President Nicolas Maduro's anti-corruption campaign.

“… I place myself at the disposal of the leadership [of the ruling party] to support this crusade that President Nicolas Maduro has undertaken against the anti-values that we are obliged to fight, even with our lives,” El Aissami wrote, according to Al Jazeera.

Maduro did not immediately name a replacement for El Aissami, who has served as vice president, and as a minister and mayor over the past two decades.

Maduro, who has led previous corruption drives, said in televised remarks that his government is committed to “going to the root” of the problem.

Though corruption has long been rampant in Venezuela, arresting government officials for corrupt practices is rare in a country with the world’s largest petroleum reserves. Those officials are rarely held accountable is a major irritant to citizens, the majority of whom now live on $1,90 a day, the international benchmark of extreme poverty.

Maduro acknowledged El Aissami’s resignation in televised remarks during a gathering of governing party leaders. He said he accepted the minister’s decision “to facilitate all the investigations that should result in the establishment of the truth, the punishment of the culprits, and justice in all these cases”.