Fugitive businessman taken into US custody in Venezuela bribery case

Procurador‑Geral Todd Blanche fala enquanto o Vice‑Presidente JD Vance, à direita, escuta atrás dele em conferência de imprensa sobre a equipe de combate à fraude em Washington, em 8 de outubro.

Photograph: Tom Brenner/APView image in fullscreenAttorney General Todd Blanche speaks as Vice-President JD Vance, right, listens behind him at news conference on the fraud taskforce in Washington, on 8 October.

Preferir o Guardian no Google. Um empresário procurado há anos nos EUA por supostamente pagar subornos a altos funcionários venezuelanos em troca de contratos estatais lucrativos na Venezuela foi detido.

Alvaro Pulido was indicted in Miami federal court in 2019 and again in 2021 as part of an investigation into his longtime business partner, Alex Saab, a one-time ally of ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

Pulido, 62, was taken into US custody after an investigation led by the DEA, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agencies, American officials said on Sunday.

It was unclear how Pulido ended up in US custody. He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Tuesday in Miami.

Venezuelan authorities have so far been silent about the arrest, reflecting the challenge that Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez faces in appeasing elements of the ruling coalition that want her to resist attempts by the Trump administration to round up scores of Venezuelan insiders wanted by the US, sometimes for years, for serious crimes ranging from corruption to drug trafficking.

The Colombian-born Pulido was arrested in Venezuela in 2023 as part of a sprawling crackdown on corruption inside state-run oil company PDVSA that was led by Rodríguez while she was serving as Maduro’s vice-president.

Ela assumiu como presidente interino da Venezuela após a destituição militar dos EUA de Maduro em janeiro.

Prior to these alleged offenses, Pulido had a prolific history of drug trafficking, including a 1997 conviction in Italy under the alias of German Enrique Rubio, the US attorney’s office for the southern district of Florida said in a statement.