Venezuelan authorities have detained Evanan Romero, an 86-year-old oil consultant who is a U.S. citizen, a move that comes as Washington seeks to encourage foreign energy investment in Venezuela and as international companies weigh potential reentry into the country’s oil sector.
The consultant was arrested in the city of Maracaibo, close to the Colombian border, while preparing to board a flight to Caracas for meetings with international oil firms, according to accounts he gave to Spanish newspaper ABC.
The news outlet quotes Romero as saying the detention order “appeared in the computer” when he checked in at the airport and that officials pulled him aside without providing formal charges. After spending a night in an Interpol office, he was transferred under guard to a private clinic for medical reasons, where he remains monitored.
He also told ABC that he had not been notified of any legal case against him and linked the arrest to a past administrative dispute that he said had already been resolved by Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal.
The detention has drawn attention because of his role in ongoing energy discussions involving foreign companies and U.S. officials. Romero was one of the founders of INTEVEP, PDVSA’s research and development center, and served as executive vice president during years when the industry operated under international standards. Between 1996 and 1999, he was also vice minister of Energy and Mines, as Semana points out.
His planned meetings in Caracas reportedly included executives from major international energy companies to discuss potential projects and steps toward stabilizing production. He has also been involved in a technical committee of former industry officials preparing proposals for rebuilding Venezuela’s energy sector under a future political transition.
The timing of the arrest coincides with renewed diplomatic efforts by the United States to promote investment in Venezuelan oil following political developments earlier this year. U.S. officials have said that reconstruction of the sector depends on legal and political guarantees for investors.
Originally published on Latin Times
