Jose Pereira

Jose Ángel Pereira was unjustly detained and held captive in Venezuela for almost five years, from November 21, 2017 to October 1, 2022. Pereira was a member of the so-called CITGO6.

His only crime was being an American. Before being taken hostage, he spent thirty-five years as an oil company executive and CEO of Citgo Petroleum (a US-based refinery complex and extensive gas station distribution center).

Pereira earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Universidad de Oriente (UDO) in Venezuela in 1985.

He joined Corpoven, S.A. (today Petróleos de Venezuela-PDVSA (Venezuelan State company), the fifth largest oil company in the world at that time.

In 1989 he completed his Master of Business Administration at Florida International University through a joint program with Universidad De Oriente (UDO).

In 2012, he received a Diploma in International Taxation from the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Throughout his career, Pereira held several management positions in various PDVSA subsidiaries worldwide.

He was assigned to numerous joint ventures of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) with Ente Nationale Idrocarburi (ENI), including ENI—Italy, Inpex—Japan, China National Petroleum Company (CNPC)—China, Statoil—Norway, Total—France, and Chevron. Conoco and Exxon—USA

He was chief financial officer of CVP (a subsidiary of PDVSA's international joint ventures) and rose to become CEO of Citgo Petroleum, replacing Nelson Martínez, who later became Minister of Petroleum and president of PDVSA.

Pereira was part of Venezuela's large oil and petrochemical projects in the 1980s, launching PDVSA to become one of the top five companies in the international oil business.

He was actively involved in several management positions, including the "Apertura Petrolera" (privatization of oil fields in Venezuela) in the 1990s, the most extensive privatization of state-owned companies at that time.

Pereira was instrumental in directing the internationalization of PDVSA in the late 1990s and early 2000s and in the renationalization of PDVSA in 2006-2007.

He was also part of the PDVSA team that created the Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (CVP). This subsidiary managed more than forty JVs with international oil companies in Venezuela.

His strategic leadership promoted him to the positions of CFO and CEO of US-based Citg Petroleum, which he held until his retirement.

While at the peak of his career as CEO of Citgo (the sixth largest refinery complex in the United States), Pereira was called to attend a business meeting in Caracas at the headquarters of Petróleo de Venezuela (PDVSA), (Citgo's parent company).

That day, the Venezuelan regime accused him of corruption, espionage and treason, among other false charges, and captured and imprisoned him. This nightmare lasted 1,775 days: four years and eight long months.

After the United States government orchestrated his release, Pereira focused on defending and supporting hostage families enduring similar nightmares and broken trials.

His experience made it clear that what he survived can help others who struggle to overcome, thrive and succeed in any circumstance.

He now speaks to spread a message of resilience, hope, faith and survival in a speech titled:
"From Captivity to Freedom: Overcoming adversity and trauma to build resilience: with a message of Love, Faith and Hope"

Pereira is proof that we can conquer anything.