Economy
A "forcefully" complaint from Venezuelan authorities of Pdvsa and the disclosure of "serious failings" in the management of Albanisa (ALBA de Nicaragua SA) led to the dismissal of José Francisco López Centeno, top leader of the consortium organized in 2007 and composed of Pdvsa (with a 55 percent stake through PDV-Caribe) and Petróleos de Nicaragua (Petronic), said newspaper La Prensa, based in Managua.

Albanisa is now reportedly headed by the representative of Venezuela, Rafael Paniagua, whom the newspaper unsuccessfully tried to contact.

According to the press report, in Albanisa a large sum of money was missing, estimated at 1.4 million cordobas, but according to unofficial sources quoted by the newspaper the sum could exceed several million dollars. Auditors sent by PDVSA, the majority owner of Albanisa, would have detected irregular accounts in 10 branches of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) in Nicaragua.

López Centeno, former head of the Secretariat of Nicaraguan ruling party Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), who then became a manager of different firms and a close ally of President Daniel Ortega, the first lady Rosario Murillo and Rafael Ortega Murillo, their son, would have lost the confidence of the president's family, said La Prensa.

One of the likely successors of López is the inspector general of the Army of Nicaragua, Maj. Gen. Ramón Calderón Vindell.

The opposition in Nicaragua has complained repeatedly that Ortega is not accountable for the fate of the Venezuelan aid.