Maduro fires oil execs, replaces them with... military?

Maduro taps major general to lead Venezuela's deteriorating oil industry
Alexandra Ulmer, Deisy Buitrago

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday tapped a National Guard major general to lead state oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] and the Oil Ministry as the OPEC member labors under near 30-year lows in oil production.

Industry analysts and sources said the surprise appointment of Manuel Quevedo, a former housing minister with no known energy experience, was a bad omen for the country’s already deteriorated oil industry.

Quevedo takes over from two industry veterans to become one of the most powerful players in the country, which is home to the world’s largest crude reserves. He will have to tackle corruption scandals and an attempted debt restructuring, within the context of a deep recession and debilitating U.S. sanctions.

“The time for a new oil revolution has come,” leftist Maduro said in his televised Sunday address, urging Quevedo to purge PDVSA of corruption. Last week, six executives from U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum Corp, or Citgo, a Venezuelan-owned refiner and marketer of oil and petrochemical products, were arrested in Caracas on graft allegations.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-pdvsa/maduro-taps-major-general-to-lead-venezuelas-deteriorating-oil-industry-idUSKBN1DQ0R9

That Maduro is a regular rocket surgeon. Replace technocrats and business people with morons who can't direct traffic after a parade. Refinancing his bonds ought to be real easy, now!

Maduro has already put the military in charge of food production/distribution, and mining. Hence, no food is being produced, and mining has been taken over by criminal gangs. Maduro has no military background the way Chavez did, and the only way to keep these generals loyal is to put them in charge of the money.