Amid suppression of critical voices, Maduro regime detains Chevron manager in Venezuela

a Former Venezuelan fighter pilot Imprisoned in Venezuela in February for ties to prominent human rights lawyer An employee of American Oil Company ChevronAccording to information received by Associated Press.

The arrests, along with other recent repressive actions by the Nicolás Maduro regime, threaten President Joe Biden’s government’s efforts to pave the way for free and fair elections in the South American country.

Alejandro GonzalezWas a former pilot and local Chevron manager He was arrested on February 9 by counterintelligence agents, who raided his home near an oil center east of Barcelona, ​​Venezuela around 10 p.m. The only information Maduro’s family has received is from a statement from Maduro’s chief prosecutor He is accused of divulging national security secrets and obstruction of justice.

“I can’t stop thinking that everything is a nightmare and that it’s not really happening,” Alexandra Gonzalez, the eldest of Gonzalez’s three daughters, said in an interview from her home in Spain. “We haven’t heard anything more about it. We don’t know what it’s like. “We have not spoken to him and he does not have access to his lawyers.”

Gonzalez was arrested Hours after his ex-wife, human rights lawyer Roquio San Miguel, was also detained, but at an airport outside of Caracas while he was on his way to Miami. Tarek William Saab, the Attorney General, accused him of acting as such “the spy” in one of multiple US-backed plots that authorities say they have foiled in recent months. Her daughter, two brothers and another ex-husband, who also served in the Air Force, were also detained, but released shortly after.

UN officials have said that these arrests are a A growing tendency to attack friends and family of regime opponents.

Chevron, the only major US oil company in Venezuela, said Gonzalez’s arrest was unrelated to the company. In a statement, he said he would not comment on personnel matters.

Gonzalez’s daughter laughed off the idea that her father, who retired from the Venezuelan air force in 2011 with the rank of colonel, was involved in any attempt to destabilize the regime. Gonzalez described his father as a “typical” working professional who fulfilled his childhood dream of flying in the cockpit of F-16s and other aircraft while serving in the Air Force.

After retiring from the military, the 57-year-old worked for Chevron and now holds a management position coordinating flights for its employees. The company operates five drilling projects in the South American nation together with state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) and among them. He is now being held in a facility in the capital run by Venezuela’s military intelligence unit.

“How can a person over the age of 13 who is not a soldier have secrets from the state?” said the young Gonzalez. “It makes no sense”.

The arrests are part of a broader crackdown on dissent that US officials say threatens to uphold a political deal negotiated last year between Maduro’s envoys, the Biden government and the United States-backed opposition coalition to guarantee presidential elections in July. 28.

Thanks for that agreement, The United States began to ease oil embargoesThat allowed Chevron to conduct more fuel exchanges with PDVSA and recover some of the unpaid loans it had made to the company as part of their joint project to develop oil fields.

But hopes of achieving a more level political playing field seem to be fading fast.

In addition to the arrests in San Miguel, the country’s Supreme Court – packed with Maduro loyalists – has barred the president’s main rival, Maria Corina Machado, run for office. And just this week, the Maduro regime arrested or issued warrants for nine of Machado’s aides, including his campaign manager.

He also ordered the closure of the United Nations human rights office, and gave its international staff 72 hours to leave the country, accusing him of aiding “coup plotters” while he called for the immediate release of San Miguel.

“Maduro will not abide by any agreement, leading to his involuntary departure from the presidency,” William Brownfield, a former US ambassador to Venezuela, said at a recent event in Washington organized by the Wilson Center, a research and development organization. An analysis of international issues established by the United States Congress. “He correctly calculated that he would not win a head-to-head matchup with Maria Corina Machado.”

On Wednesday, an independent panel of experts told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that the Maduro regime has stepped up repressive measures against opponents ahead of this year’s presidential elections.

Marta Valinas, head of the panel established by the council in 2019, told diplomats that the Venezuelan lawyer and his associates were detained without a court order and in violation of basic guarantees of due process, such as appearing before a judge within 48 hours. After his arrest.

“This practice of authorities intimidating relatives and friends of targeted people with criminal actions responds to a pattern already noted in previous mission reports,” Velinas said.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, but years of mismanagement and recent US sanctions have decimated production.That rose from 3.5 million barrels per day in 1999 when Maduro’s mentor – Hugo Chavez – took office, to less than 820,000 barrels per day in February, near the lowest level in decades.

Chevron has operated in Venezuela since the 1920s, staying in the country even after many of its competitors fled amid disputes and threats of expropriation by Chávez.

San Miguel is a lawyer who runs a small nonprofit that monitors Venezuela’s security forces. Unlike many other critics of the regime who have fled in recent years, she has remained in the country and has focused more on persuasion. Little known political ins and outs inside the barracks than attacking the Maduro regime.

Prosecutor Saab, during a recent nationally televised press conference, said authorities also have evidence of “payments in dollars from the oil transnational” to San Miguel for “environmental analysis” on military matters. He did not show copies of the payments or identify the company that allegedly paid San Miguel.

Gonzalez said her father hasn’t spoken to San Miguel in about a yearAdding that the couple’s marriage ended in a bitter divorce in 2023.

(AP)