United States authorities have indicted 10 people for breaching sanctions against Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), one of them a Venezuelan military official, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday.
They conspired to export millions of dollars worth of aircraft parts to service the aircraft fleet of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, in breach of a sanctions package rolled out 2019, the department said in a statement unveiling the charge.
One of the accused, whom the DOJ identified as PDVSA’s head of logistics, procurement and warehousing, was arrested Friday upon arrival at the Miami International Airport, while a second indictee is a colonel in the South American country’s military, the statement said.
“As alleged in the indictment, between January 2019 and December 2021, after learning of the sanctions imposed on PDVSA, the defendants devised a scheme to illegally procure aircraft parts, including Honeywell Turbofan Engines, from the United States to service PDVSA’s aircraft fleet in Venezuela, in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls”, the DOJ said. “To carry out this scheme, the defendants concealed from U.S. companies that the goods were destined for Venezuela and PDVSA by exporting them to third parties in other countries, including Novax Group SA (Novax), a Costa Rican company, and Aerofalcon SL (Aerofalco), a Spanish company”.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added the Costa Rican and Spanish companies to its so-called Entity List on November 17, effectively denying them access to certain materials under U.S. jurisdiction.
Four of the accused work with PDVSA, including George Clemente Semerene Quintero, the person arrested last week, according to the DOJ statement. The three others were identified as Gilberto Ramon Araujo Prieto, 54, a colonel in the Venezuelan military and a PDVSA air transport manager; Guillermo Ysrael Marval Rivero, 62, and Fernando Jose Blequett Landaeta, 52, both air transport managers and logistics analysts tasked with procurement at PDVSA.
Four other indictees work with Novax, including Novax’s Costa Rican owner, 63-year-old Luis Alberto Duque Carvajal, the DOJ said.
The remaining two are officials of Aerofalcon, including the owner Juan Carlos Gonzalez Perez, 60.
The suspects face up to 20 years in prison upon conviction. Five of the defendants face additional charges of “submitting false or misleading export information and smuggling of goods, which respectively carry maximum penalties of five and 10 years in prison”, the DOJ said.
They are accused of violating an executive order issued by then-President Donald Trump extending sanctions to PDVSA and the Central Bank of Venezuela. Executive Order 13857 reiterated the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was illegitimate, contesting his 2018 reelection for another six years.
The January 25, 2019, order also cited “human rights violations and abuses in response to anti-Maduro protests, arbitrary arrest and detention of anti-Maduro protestors, curtailment of press freedom, harassment of political opponents and continued attempts to undermine the Interim President of Venezuela and undermine the National Assembly”. It was referring to the parallel government of opposition leader Juan Guaido, which Washington backed but which dissolved itself 2022.
Last week the Biden administration announced it would not renew a reprieve issued to Caracas for oil and gas activities, accusing the Maduro regime of failure to honor a commitment to upholding fair elections.
“After a careful review of the current situation in Venezuela, the United States determined Nicolas Maduro and his representatives have not fully met the commitments made under the electoral roadmap agreement, which was signed by Maduro representatives and the opposition in Barbados in October 2023”, the State Department said in a statement April 17.
“Therefore, General License 44, which authorizes transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela, will expire at 12:01 AM on April 18”.
The Treasury Department issued the six-month license last October 18 allowing transactions related to, per the official license text, the “production, lifting, sale, and exportation of oil or gas from Venezuela, and provision of related goods and services; payment of invoices for goods or services related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela; new investment in oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela; and delivery of oil and gas from Venezuela to creditors of the Government of Venezuela, including creditors of PdVSA Entities, for the purpose of debt repayment”.
The State Department said, “Despite delivering on some of the commitments made under the Barbados electoral roadmap, we are concerned that Maduro and his representatives prevented the democratic opposition from registering the candidate of their choice, harassed and intimidated political opponents, and unjustly detained numerous political actors and members of civil society”.
Simultaneous with the announcement, the Treasury issued a license for affected companies to wind down their operations in Venezuela. The wind-down period runs through May.
“Effective April 17, 2024, General License No. 44, dated October 18, 2023, is replaced and superseded in its entirety by this General License No. 44A”, stated the wind-down license notice.
U.S. officials have repeatedly denounced the decision by Venezuela’s Supreme Court to bar an opposition bet for this year’s presidential poll. In a statement January 27, the State Department said, “The Venezuelan Supreme Court’s January 26 decision to disqualify democratic opposition primary winner Maria Corina Machado is inconsistent with the commitment by Nicolás Maduro’s representatives to hold a competitive Venezuelan presidential election in 2024”.
The court’s decision affirming an electoral ban on Machado “lacked basic elements, as Machado neither received a copy of the allegations against her nor was afforded the opportunity to respond to those allegations”, the State Department said at the time.
Amid the ban, Machado last month named a replacement for her presidential bid freshly “after authorities arrested two of her campaign staffers and issued warrants for seven more, accusing them of links to an alleged anti-government plot”, U.S. independent news agency The Associated Press reported March 23.
Late that month Maduro filed candidacy seeking another term extension, as reported by his United Socialist Party and state media. The vote has been scheduled for July 28, as announced by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council March 5.
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