Venezuela's UN ambassador announced that he was pushed out of his post on Tuesday amid a corruption scandal involving state-owned oil company PDVSA. Rafael Ramirez led PDVSA for 10 years until 2014 and recently publicly fell out with the government of President Nicolas Maduro. "I have been removed because of my opinions. Whatever happens, I will always be loyal to Comandante Chavez," Ramirez wrote on Twitter alongside pictures of his four-page resignation letter, referring to Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, according to dpa. Ramirez said in the Twitter post that he resigned at Maduro's request on Monday. Venezuelan authorities have been investigating the ailing oil company for corruption for months. More than 100 suspects have already been arrested, including the company's former bosses, Eulogio Del Pino and Nelson Martinez. Opposition leaders say the investigation is not about corruption, but an attempt to secure control of the state-run company. PDVSA is extremely important for Venezuela. Around 95 per cent of the country's foreign exchange revenue comes from oil exports, but years of mismanagement and bad investments have led to a significant drop in production. Oil revenues have plummeted from 39.7 million dollars in 2014 to 5.29 million dollars.
