Lapatilla
Venezuelan Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami said on Monday he was returning to his duties after surgery and denied a Reuters report that said President Nicolas Maduro planned to replace him for health reasons.
By Reuters
Dec 13, 2021
Reuters on Thursday published a story disclosing that Maduro planned to replace El Aissami at the oil ministry at least temporarily because of health issues.
Three people familiar with the matter said the decision to at least temporarily replace El Aissami at the ministry had been suspended after the Reuters story was published.
“Here we are, in good health,” El Aissami said in an online video showing him bouncing a ball at a basketball court and scoring some baskets.
“After completing a rigorous and disciplined rest, as I had to undergo surgery for a groin hernia that could not be postponed, I have come back – although I never abandoned my responsibilities.”
Neither PDVSA nor the oil or information ministries responded to requests for comment and El Aissami could not be reached.
Despite the decision not to suspend El Aissami, two of the three people familiar with the matter said some top officials working for him at the supply and trade departments of PDVSA were replaced and the changes made official on Friday.
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Read More: Reuters – Venezuela oil minister says he is returning to duties after hernia surgery
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