Venezuela announced the arrest of former oil minister Pedro Tellechea, accusing him of ties to a firm controlled by US intelligence services.

Tellechea, who led PDVSA (Venezuela's national oil company) until August, was detained along with close associates on Sunday, according to Attorney General Tarek William Saab.

The group is accused of handing over PDVSA's automated control system to a US-linked company, a move deemed a violation of "national sovereignty."

This comes nearly three months after President Nicolas Maduro's reelection.

Without directly mentioning Tellechea, Maduro vowed to fight "the corrupt and traitors" and warned of continuous US "conspiracies" during his weekly television address, saying, "Every day they (the US government) are plotting to see where they can get in."

Tellechea, an army colonel and mechanical engineer, became oil minister in March 2023 after the resignation of his predecessor, Tareck El Aissami, over corruption allegations. Despite pledging to "clean up" the sector, Tellechea stepped down in August due to health reasons, with Alex Saab taking over his post as industry minister.

El Aissami, once a close ally of Maduro, had been arrested in connection with a multi-million-dollar crypto fraud involving PDVSA.

Maduro: Evidence of US role in assassination attempt revealed

Last month, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared that Venezuela stands at the "forefront of the fight against colonialism and fascism."

Speaking after the World Anti-Fascist Congress, he hailed the gathering of over 1,200 delegates from more than 95 countries as "an auspicious beginning for forging a powerful international movement against fascism and colonialism."

He also emphasized that Caracas’ stance in negotiations with Washington is to demand the removal of the "criminal sanctions imposed on Venezuelan society, economy, and people."

The Venezulan President added that lifting US sanctions would have been the starting point for the process of rapprochement and normalization of relations, "but instead, they have consistently engaged in deception."