At least 100 administrative employees from Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company, PDVSA, have been forced to resign over their political stances since the disputed July 28 elections which saw President Nicolás Maduro re-elected.
Similar dismissals have been reported at other public offices including public media and state-owned industrial conglomerates.
These layoffs come as a part of a wider government crackdown against dissent over the government’s claim that President Maduro won the election. The opposition published partial voting tallies that indicate its candidate, Edmundo González, won by a wide margin.
At PDVSA’s headquarters in Caracas, reports say about 100 administrative employees have been pushed out. According to the largest oil union in the country, 30 others at PDVSA’s eastern division have been forced to resign.
According to Reuters, the social media networks of PDVSA employees are being closely monitored and top executives have instructed operational and administrative workers to attend rallies backing Maduro.
The employees that have not supported Maduro or have questioned the National Electoral Council’s (CNE) results are being expelled.
“This is a political retaliation against numerous workers who, in the recent electoral process, demonstrated against Maduro’s government through social networks, in WhatsApp groups and in other ways,” Jose Bodas, a leader of the largest oil workers union in Venezuela, said in a statement.
This recent wave of layoffs is reminiscent of 2002 and 2003, when President Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s predecessor, fired more than 18,000 PDVSA workers for participating in a general strike that paralyzed the entire country.
The current situation could exacerbate PDVSA’s chronic staffing issue, where a lack of qualified workers has affected the operational capacity of the company. In the last decade, oil production has fallen to a quarter of what it used to be.
On Tuesday, President Maduro made major changes to his cabinet, where he added the oil ministry to Vice President Delcy Rodriguez’s list of duties. Rodriguez is one of Maduro’s closest allies, and the appointment to oil minister puts her at the top of the Venezuelan economy. PDVSA was producing 851,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June, according to Venezuela Analysis.
The National Union of Press Workers has also reported that at least 40 employees were fired from the state owned television channel VTV for simply “liking” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s posts on social media.
Employees were illegally fired between August 1 and August 2 in Caracas, as well as in states across the country. Layoffs have also occurred at the National Radio (RNV).
The SNTP also mentioned the “terror” and “fear” employees experienced in reporting their testimonies.
Since the election, the government has strengthened the surveillance of public employees.
