Guatemala to shut down U.N. anti-corruption body on Tuesday

The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG, was established over a decade ago with the authority to conduct independent investigations and work with the country’s prosecutors. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales had announced in August that he would not renew the body’s mandate, which was due to expire on Sept. 3, 2019. Days later, he banned CICIG head Ivan Velasquez, a hard-charging Colombian prosecutor, from re-entering the country.

Working with Guatemala’s attorney general, CICIG sought to prosecute Morales, a former comedian, in 2017 over illegal financing allegations during his election campaign two years earlier. That move followed separate CICIG graft probes into members of the president’s family. Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel met with Guterres in New York on Monday.

“It is regrettable that the Secretary-General, in a bid to maintain one person in the position, sacrificed the legitimacy of the commission,” Jovel told a news conference after the meeting, referring to Guterres’ decision to stand-by Velasquez. “Therefore we reported to the Secretary-General that within 24 hours the agreement (that was struck to create CICIG) will be terminated by the Guatemalan government,” she said. Jovel accused the commissions of exceeding its authority. The United Nations did not immediately respond when asked about her remarks.

Many politicians in Guatemala consider the foreign-led body, which is unusual among U.N. bodies for its powers to bring cases to prosecutors, to be a violation of national sovereignty. Anti-corruption activists credit it with cleaning up government. Last month the Guatemalan government revoked visas and immunity for 11 CICIG investigators and two relatives. Speaking ahead of the meeting between Guterres and Jovel, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general continued to support the work of the commission. Guterres also “expects the Guatemalan Government to provide the Commission with all the assistance necessary for the discharge of its functions and activities, including the freedom of movement of its staff throughout Guatemala, as provided in the agreement that was signed,” Dujarric said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-guatemala-corruption/guatemala-to-shut-down-u-n-anti-corruption-body-on-tuesday-idUSKCN1P128Q?il=0

Venezuela's PDVSA in oil deal with firm part-owned by Florida Republican

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] has signed a deal with little-known U.S. energy firm Erepla, partly owned by a prominent Florida Republican, to help increase the socialist-run country’s plummeting crude oil output, the company said. Erepla Services LLC, with an undisclosed stake held by Republican Harry Sargeant III and which Delaware state records show was only registered in November, said it plans to invest up to $500 million to increase production at three Venezuelan oil fields in exchange for a portion of the crude produced. Sargeant and Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., known as PDVSA have clashed in the past. Between 2006 and 2008, PDVSA was awarded $52 million after a company partly owned by Sargeant was accused of not paying for several crude shipments in 2002 and 2003, court records show.

The new arrangement faces significant hurdles, including obtaining an exemption from Trump administration sanctions that block U.S. companies from providing financing to the government of President Nicolas Maduro or Venezuelan state firms. It is a further sign that Venezuela is tapping inexperienced firms to stem massive declines in crude output as more established oil companies steer clear of the troubled country due to concerns about U.S. sanctions and overall dysfunction.

Erepla said the agreement will “revitalize oil production” at the Tia Juana Lago and Rosa Mediano fields in the western Lake Maracaibo region and in the Ayacucho 5 bloc, in the eastern heavy-oil Orinoco Belt. The company added that the deal gives it “enhanced managerial participation” in the projects and will be responsible for procurement, a key difference from long-established joint ventures between PDVSA and oil majors like Chevron Corp (CVX.N), where PDVSA has full operational control. Erepla said it would be “responsible for the entirety of the investment.” A spokesman declined to elaborate on how it would raise the funds. Erepla said it would be “responsible for the entirety of the investment.” A spokesman declined to elaborate on how it would raise the funds. Neither PDVSA nor the Oil Ministry responded to requests for comment.

The Erepla spokesman said Sargeant, who has served as finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party and runs asphalt trading and shipping firm Global Oil Management Group, owns a stake in Erepla, but declined to reveal the percentage. The deal is the first new partnership between PDVSA and a private company since Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo in August announced a set of “joint service agreements” with 14 little-known companies that did not appear to have experience operating oilfields and PDVSA. Those contracts were similar to ones rolled back under late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, who expanded the state’s role in the OPEC country’s energy industry. Output has continued to stagnate since the deals were signed, dropping to 1.46 million barrels per day in November from more than 2 million at the end of last year, according to OPEC figures, in a sign of the company’s struggles under military rule.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil/venezuelas-pdvsa-in-oil-deal-with-firm-part-owned-by-florida-republican-idUSKCN1P11EM?il=0