Checking in on the Venezuela ambassador to Nigeria

Hey remember how a long time ago I wrote about His Excellency Enrique Arrundell, representative of the Venezuelan state in Nigeria, and how he was allegedly mixed up with the con men who run a fake oil company known as Arevenca? That case is trudging along; PDVSA lawyers plan to depose this  Skanga company about its relationship with Arrundell, Victor Halliday, Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Reynaldo Bolívar, former Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto, former Trujillo (Venezuela) state governor Hugo Cabezas, and His Excellency S.A.A. Adeniran, Nigeria’s ambassador to Venezuela. True to form, Skanga’s attorneys demanded $75,000 from PDVSA in order to pay their fees while they attend the deposition of their clients. More good use of Venezuela’s oil income — paying for fancy air tickets and hotels for US lawyers going to Nigeria.

Anyway, I was just looking for something else and came across this really horrible fight between Arrundell and an embassy employee. Long story short, new employee arrives in embassy in Abuja, she feels pressured by the ambassador, she gets stressed out and gets authorized for a 3-month psychiatric leave from a doctor in Spain. The embassy in Abuja refuses to give her medical leave, and when she didn’t show up for work, she got taken off the payroll and lost her medical insurance. Meanwhile she gets pregnant and comes down with malaria. The embassy staff deny her entry. Eight months after the ordeal began, the foreign ministry finally agrees to give her 3 months of back pay and fly her to Venezuela, leaving her “just” uninsured, pregnant and with malaria in Venezuela, rather than uninsured pregnant and with malaria in Nigeria. She sued for alleged violations of labor law, including the ban on firing pregnant women. The judge decided against the former diplomat, saying she hadn’t provided adequate proof that she was pregnant when she was fired.

I don’t know if any of this is related to anything else, but I now see that Arrundell lost his job as ambassador to Nigeria May 23. Typical of Venezuela, the official announcement failed to mention his jobs as ambassador to other countries (such as Sierra Leone and Liberia), so who knows, maybe the next employment case can be filed by him.

I don’t have any way to reach Arrundell for comment. If you do, please let him know I’m happy to add his side of the story. Just be in touch.