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Six former executives of Citgo, the Venezuelan state’s oil subsidiary in the United States, who were arrested three years ago in Caracas and sentenced to heavy prison terms, were sent to house arrest on Friday.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the agencies AP and ReutersThe men, including five United States citizens and one other permanent resident of that country, were taken from jail and placed under house arrest.
The Venezuelan government did not immediately confirm the information.
The six deny charges of bribery, embezzlement and association to commit crimes against them and claim to be victims of a Caracas political plot to pressure the US government.
The former leaders had already been under house arrest in December 2019, but were re-jailed the same day then-President Donald Trump received Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaid at the White House.
His placement under house arrest was seen by the United States as a sign of reconciliation with Joe Biden, at a time when his government is said to be reviewing its policy towards the South American country.
What happened to the old executives
The six men worked for Citgo, a US-based oil refiner owned by Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA.
In November 2017, they were summoned to Caracas for an “emergency meeting” and were arrested.
According to Human Rights Watch, the group was accused of signing an agreement “unfavorable” to the Venezuelan state-owned company.
Despite the mediation of the US government and politicians like Bill Clinton, they were finally sentenced in November 2020.
The heaviest sentence was imposed on Jos Pereira Ruimwyk, former president of Citgo: 13 years in prison and the payment of a fine of 2 million dollars.
The other five defendants (Citgo vice-presidents Jos Luis Zambrano, Alirio Jos Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell and Gustavo Crdenas) were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
His arrests were seen as the start of an “anti-corruption operation” by the Venezuelan government.
However, many critics of the Nicols Maduro government have pointed out that it is a “political purge”.
Venezuela is heavily dependent on its oil industry, which accounts for 95% of the country’s export revenues.
During his tenure, Trump imposed severe sanctions on PDVSA after recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaid as president in charge of Venezuela.
And in fact, it gave him control of the American subsidiary.
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