A former oil minister who died in Venezuela | World

"Nelson Martínez, former oil minister and former president of the PDBSA, has just been killed, kidnapped and ill-treated for a year on the order of Nicolás Maduro, who was aware of his chronic illness defense and life Maduro, you are responsible, "Ramirez wrote on Twitter.

Ramirez had said Saturday that Matinez, arrested since 2017 after being charged with corruption, was suffering from a heart condition and was undergoing intensive treatment.

According to Efe, the Venezuelan government has not yet spoken.

According to the local press, Martinez was reportedly taken to the Caracas Military Hospital a few days after having a cardiac complication inside the prison.

Ramirez used social networks to express his condolences to the relatives of the former minister who he said had been mistreated during his arrest.

"He was denied the right to everything, including life, and Nelson was an excellent professional and a patriot," he said.

Ramírez was president of PDVSA for a decade, between 2004 and 2014, during the government of the late President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), of which he was an intimate member.

At the end of 2017, Ramirez broke with Maduro.

He was arrested at the end of last year, accused of having participated in the signing of the debt refinancing agreement of Citgo Petroleum Corporation, the largest subsidiary of PDVSA, without the approval of the Venezuelan government.

Since then, the former minister has been detained at the military counterintelligence directorate, where is also detained former PDVSA president, Eulogio del Pino.

Last November, the Attorney General of Venezuela, Tareq Saab, accused both of embezzlement and gang formation.

The Ramírez case is not unknown in Venezuela. On August 8, the opposition municipal councilor, Fernando Albán, died as a result of his arrest for his alleged involvement in Maduro 's alleged attack with the help of drones laden with police. explosives. He fell from the 10th floor of the headquarters of intelligence services of Caracas.

The government claims that Albán has committed suicide, but the opposition claims that he died after being tortured during his interrogation and that he was subsequently thrown out by the window.

Another opposition leader, Carlos Andrés García, died of a cerebrovascular accident on September 17, 2017, while he was being held at SEBIN.

The pilot Rodolfo González, said "El Aviador", was hanged in his cell in 2015, after being captured during a protest against Maduro who had killed 43 people in 2014.