VENEZUELA
New Faces
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named a military leader as the new head of state oil company PDVSA following the arrests of more than 50 officials of the company and its joint ventures – including the president of its US refining arm, Citgo, last week.
Major General Manuel Quevedo will replace former president, Nelson Martinez, a chemist who was nominated to the post just three months ago, Bloomberg quoted Maduro as saying in a televised address. Quevedo will also become the country’s oil minister, replacing Eulogio Del Pino.
Quevedo’s appointment comes ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna this week that could result in crude production cuts being extended – though Venezuela is already struggling to meet its OPEC output target.
Maduro also named several other military officers to top cabinet positions in the reshuffle.
Over the past month, PDVSA has made billions of dollars in debt payments, but it is still behind on other bond interest payments, so its credit rating firms have said it’s in “selective default.”
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