The Venezuelan journalist Patricia Poleo discussed the case of the “guiso” involving PDVSA TV in her program “No Te Escaparás”, aired on the YouTube channel “Factores de Poder”. This channel, PDVSA TV, currently has just over 3,000 subscribers, with its videos attracting only a few hundred views.
According to PDVSA TV’s description, the channel states:
“PDVSA TV is the Television Channel of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A (PDVSA), becoming the first and only channel dedicated to educational, economic, and cultural content related to the oil industry, aimed at training its audience.
MISSION
Our mission is to educate the Venezuelan people and spread knowledge globally about the oil industry and its social implications through entertaining educational, economic, and cultural content.
OUR VALUES
Commitment to the Homeland, PDVSA, and the construction of Socialism
Awareness of social duty
Responsibility
Ethics and professionalism”
The YouTube channel PDVSA TV was created on June 5, 2013. At that time, the state holding Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) was led by the former chavista minister Rafael Ramírez Carreño, who is now wanted by Venezuelan authorities for his involvement in multimillion-dollar corruption schemes. Carreño is also supported by a faction of the Venezuelan opposition as a potential presidential candidate.
Poleo explained that PDVSA TV was led by a journalist named Naimi Núñez, who previously worked at the chavista channel TVES. After her time at TVES, Núñez was appointed to head PDVSA TV by William Castillo, the former president of Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL).
Núñez brought several of her former TVES colleagues to PDVSA TV, including Rosalinda Ruiz, who was the head of acquisitions at TVES.
Ruiz partnered with a man named José Alberto Cuesta to create a production company called Habemus Films, which received a lucrative contract from PDVSA TV for programming production. Poleo presented a demo that was used to support the contract between PDVSA TV and Habemus Films.
Following this, Habemus Films continued to engage in business with Venezuelan state organizations, such as CONATEL, for various projects, including a documentary that was planned to air via Rosalinda Ruiz’s personal YouTube channel and through the open television signal of La Tele Tuya, a channel led in Venezuela by entrepreneur Esteban Trapiello.
Despite the financial support received from Venezuelan state entities, Rosalinda Ruiz’s YouTube channel has only slightly over 300 subscribers, with its videos garnering just a few hundred views.
Naimi Núñez is currently focused on promoting “positive” news and musical events in Venezuela.