Venezuela’s Maduro strips rival of U.N. post amid corruption purge - sources

CARACAS/HOUSTON, (Reuters) - Venezuela has ordered the removal of Rafael Ramirez, once a powerful oil minister and head of state oil company PDVSA, from his post as representative to the United Nations in New York, four sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Though the decision will not affect the OPEC nation’s struggling oil industry, it may help President Nicolas Maduro shore up his position in crisis-stricken Venezuela as the country heads toward presidential elections in 2018.

Ramirez, an increasingly vocal critic of Maduro in recent months, was seen by some as angling to be a presidential candidate as Maduro’s unpopular government and an economic crisis have fueled divisions with the ruling Socialist Party.

“He was fired last night,” said a source with knowledge of the information, who asked not to be identified. Maduro sent Ramirez to the U.N. in 2014 in a major demotion from his decade-long roles as oil minister and head of PDVSA.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United Nations has not received formal notification of Ramirez’s removal, a U.N. spokesman said.

Vice President Tareck El Aissami said on Wednesday that he hoped that Maduro will be re-elected in 2018, the clearest indication yet that the former bus driver will seek another term despite the economic crisis.

A separate source said that Ramirez had been summoned to present himself in Venezuela “in coming days.” That source said Ramirez had not been formally removed and that he was working at the United Nations on Wednesday.

However, he was not present when his turn to speak at a meeting on the rights of the Palestinian people came up, according to diplomatic sources at the meeting.