Venezuela passes law to seize assets from corruption cases

Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez speaks during an act to demand the repealing of the 2015 decree imposed by the United States government against Venezuela, at Bolivar square, outside the Legislative Federal Palace, in Caracas on March 9, 2023. The country's ruling party-controlled National Assembly on April 27, 2023 approved a law allowing the government to seize assets linked to corruption cases. (PHOTO / AFP)

CARACAS – Venezuela's ruling party-controlled National Assembly on Thursday approved a law allowing the government to seize assets linked to corruption cases, as it investigates irregularities at state oil company PDVSA and other state companies.

According to the law, the government would sell these assets to finance public services, infrastructure and social programs.

It is a "very important law in the fight against corruption … so that impunity is not the currency of common use," National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said after the law was passed.

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Since March, the prosecutor's office has arrested 61 people, including officials and businessmen, for corruption in PDVSA and state-owned steel, iron and aluminum companies, as well as a state-owned cardboard manufacturer.

Sources have told Reuters the crackdown was in part motivated by the need for dollars to maintain exchange rate policy and increase spending ahead of the 2024 elections.