Maduro names general to head state oil firm

CARACAS: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday ( Monday in Manila) named a general to head debt- ridden Petróleos de Venezuela, S. A. ( PDVSA) and ordered a “total - ant, in a move that emphasized military support for his regime.

Maduro announced on state television that he had named Ma and president of PDVSA.

played a key role in subduing violent anti-Maduro protests in 2014.

His appointment came alongside Maduro’s naming of Capt. Jose Vielma Mora as foreign trade minister, expanding the military presence in his government.

At least one-third of the Cabinet is made up of active or retired officers, and the military has become a major pillar of support for the widely unpopular socialist leader.

“We are going for a total re said during his weekly show on - zolana de Televisión (VTV) network.

PDVSA accounts for about 95 percent of the country’s export earnings.

Quevedo, formerly the minister of housing, replaces Nelson Martinez at the helm of PDVSA and Eulogio del Pino as oil minister.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during the 4th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, on November 24. and 3.2 million in 2008.

That decline—partly attributed partly to low investment in infrastructure— combined with the worldwide drop in oil prices has plunged the country into crisis.

Maduro on Sunday set increased production as a top priority.

With barely $10 billion in its hard currency reserves, Maduro’s socialist government has been

The prolonged economic crisis has brought crippling shortages of food, medicine and industrial

Struggling with corruption

The move comes only days after PDVSA and Venezuela were declared in selective default for failing to meet payments on certain bonds in time.

The company’s bonds represent 30 percent of a Venezuelan external debt estimated at $150 billion, which Maduro has been seeking to renegotiate.

The company has been in steep decline for years, with production falling to currently 1.9 million barrels a day from 2.6 million last year at 1,000 percent is the world’s highest— and the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) projects could exceed 2,300 percent next year.

PDVSA is also struggling with alleged corruption.

On Tuesday last week, the government arrested six executives of the PDVSA’s Houston- based affiliate, Citgo, for allegedly billion in debt without government approval.

The government alleges that a $50-million bribe was paid as part of that deal.