Ex-Venezuela mayor surrenders in Miami for oil bribe scheme

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) — A one-time ally of Hugo Chávez wanted for prosecution by his socialist successor Nicolás Maduro has quietly surrendered in Miami in connection to a major bribery scheme involving joint oil ventures with foreign partners. Jhonnathan Marín was serving as mayor of the port city of Guanta in 2017 when he resigned and fled the country amid a purge at state run oil giant PDVSA. According to a criminal complaint filed just days before his arrest, Marín helped pay bribes on behalf of an unnamed co-conspirator who was awarded tens of millions of dollars in contracts from state run oil giant PDVSA’s joint ventures with Chevron, France’s Total and firms from Russia and China.