Sorted by date Results 51 - 62 of 62
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A trust linked to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has filed a lawsuit against Glencore, Lukoil and other energy trading firms for their alleged role funneling bribes to corrupt company officials in exchange for rigged oil purchase and sale contracts. The civil complaint was unsealed Thursday by a federal judge in Miami and alleges the ongoing scheme cheated the socialist-run company of billions in lost revenue since 2004. The lawsuit comes as the U.S. expands its own criminal investigation into corruption at P...
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Venezuela's former oil czar Rafael Ramirez was sued Friday by a Houston company that alleges he was behind demands for at least $10 million in bribes to sign off on deals to sell its energy assets in the South American country. The civil complaint filed in Houston came just four days after a U.S. official told The Associated Press that Ramirez is suspected by prosecutors of having received bribes in connection to a major graft scheme at Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA. In the new lawsuit, Harvest Natural Resourc...
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — U.S. prosecutors say Venezuela's former oil czar received bribes as part of a major graft scheme that allegedly took place in the OPEC nation's oil industry, an American official familiar with the probe said. Rafael Ramirez, who was one of Venezuela's most powerful officials until he quit as the country's U.N. ambassador in December, was named as a bribe recipient although he was not charged in an indictment against five other former senior officials that was partially unsealed Monday. In the indictment, prosecutors in H...
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — When rebel commander Rodrigo Londono signed a peace deal committing his troops to laying down their weapons, it was heralded as the best chance in decades to end Latin America's oldest and bloodiest armed conflict. But as war-weary Colombia marks the first anniversary of the peace accord's signing on Friday, the hopeful mood has dimmed. While the guerrillas' guns have been silenced, implementation of the historic deal is flagging, according to several outside observers supporting the peace process. Lawmakers are still r...
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish police arrested a former aide to Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations on a U.S. warrant in connection with a $1 billion bribery scheme at Venezuela's state-run oil company, officials said Friday. Spain's Civil Guard said Rafael Reiter was detained in Madrid as part of a months-long sting ordered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. On Thursday, three other former Venezuelan officials were arrested on money laundering charges brought by prosecutors in Houston, including a former deputy energy m...
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A small army of red-shirted workers mop the linoleum floors as their supervisors, sitting under a giant portrait of Hugo Chavez, look on. By the meltdown standards of Venezuela's economy, the shelves around the workers at the state-run Bicentenario supermarket in eastern Caracas are brimming with staples like rice and pasta. What's missing are the shoppers: They've been scared off by prices that double every few weeks while wages in the crisis-wracked nation remain stagnant. "I don't even look at my paycheck anymore b...
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed Friday to prosecute for treason opponents he accused of being behind sweeping U.S. financial sanctions that will strain relations between the countries and make it harder for the socialist leader to raise badly needed cash. Maduro accused President Donald Trump of trampling on international law and relations with Latin America by taking actions that he said would cause "great damage" to the Venezuelan oil economy as well as American investors who own the country's bonds. He s...
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A small army of red-shirted workers mop the linoleum floors as their supervisors, sitting under a giant portrait of Hugo Chavez, look on. By the meltdown standards of Venezuela's economy, the shelves around the workers at the state-run Bicentenario supermarket in eastern Caracas are brimming with staples like rice and pasta. What's missing are the shoppers: They've been scared off by prices that double every few weeks while wages in the crisis-wracked nation remain stagnant. "I don't even look at my paycheck anymore b...
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Trump administration slapped sweeping financial sanctions on Venezuela on Friday, dramatically ratcheting up tensions between the two countries and making it harder for embattled President Nicolas Maduro to raise badly needed cash to prevent a debt default. The sanctions, which Trump signed by executive order, prohibit American financial institutions from providing new money to the government or the state oil company, PDVSA. They also restrict the Venezuelan oil giant's U.S. subsidiary, Citgo, from sending d...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has said he wouldn't rule out military action against Venezuela in response to the country's descent into political chaos following President Nicolas Maduro's power grab. Venezuela's government responded by accusing Trump of seeking to destabilize Latin America. Speaking to reporters Friday at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Trump bemoaned Venezuela's growing humanitarian crisis and declared that all options remain on the table — including a potential military intervention. "We have many options f...
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Trump administration's decision on Wednesday to slap sanctions on eight members of Venezuela's all-powerful constitutional assembly brings to 30 the number of government loyalists targeted for human rights abuses and violations of democratic norms since anti-government protests began in April. But even as the list of targeted individuals grows longer, promised economic sanctions have yet to materialize amid an outcry by the U.S. oil industry that a potential ban on petroleum imports from Venezuela — the thi...
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The number of Venezuelans seeking asylum in the United States is accelerating as the oil-rich economy crashes and bloody, anti-government protests roil the nation. The most recent data from Citizenship and Immigration Services show 8,301 Venezuelans requested asylum in the first three months of 2017. That compares to 3,507 in the first quarter of 2016 and puts the country on pace to surpass last year's record of 18,155 requests. Even before the latest crackdown on anti-government protests, Venezuelans were fleeing t...
