By Dan Molinski Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised Sunday the government will "get to the bottom" of a scandal in which tens of thousands of tons of rotting food were discovered abandoned at a warehouse overseen by state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA.

"We won't rest, we will get to the bottom of this case," Chavez said in his weekly Sunday column published on his blog, www.Chavez.org.ve. "But this will not divert us from our route toward our main goal...Socialism!"

Authorities investigating the case have already arrested and charged with corruption Luis Pulido, who is a member of PDVSA's board of directors, a group that is hand-picked by Chavez.

Officials say other arrests in the case are possible and some observers are calling for the firing of PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez, who is also the energy minister. But Chavez has so far said Ramirez, a longtime trusted adviser, won't be sacked.

The scandal erupted last week. Authorities investigating an unrelated case at a government warehouse in the seaport city of Puerto Cabello stumbled upon 1,200 shipping containers filled with around 30,000 tons of spoiled food, which included milk, wheat flour and rice.

The warehouse is one of many operated by PDVAL, a subsidiary of PDVSA that was created by Chavez two years ago with some of Venezuela's massive oil revenue to import and distribute food to the needy, under the banner of Socialism.

The rotting food, which Chavez has acknowledged appears to be due to a combination of corruption and inefficiency, couldn't have come at a worse time for the government. Venezuela has been experiencing sporadic shortages of food for months, and Chavez has been specifically blaming private industry for the scarcities.

The scandal also comes just three months before key congressional elections, where Chavez ruling Socialist party aims to maintain majority control of the main legislative body, the National Assembly.

Chavez and other government officials have been trying to downplay the importance of the rotting food. Officials have repeatedly said the 30,000 tons of expired food don't amount to even 1% of what the government has distributed to the needy over the past 10 years by way of government-run companies such as PDVAL and Mercal.

Chavez says opposition forces are exaggerating the case of the spoiled food to steer voters away from the ruling party in the Sept. 26 elections.

"What they're trying is to create over the next few months as many problems as possible, a media war, it's media terrorism," Chavez said Saturday, referring to opposition-controlled media outlets. "They want to manipulate the figures and exaggerate our errors to nail a deadly wedge into the National Assembly."

The man arrested in the case last week, Pulido, was the president of the state food company PDVAL until a few months ago, according to officials.

Attempts to reach Pulido, who is in jail, or any attorney representing him, were unsuccessful.

The PDVSA website lists Pulido as one of 11 current members of its board of directors, although government officials only refer to Pulido as a former PDVAL official, and were not available Sunday to confirm whether Pulido remains active on PDVSA's board.

The PDVSA board is considered among the most powerful in the country, as it helps oversee billions of dollars in oil revenue, which is Venezuela's lifeline.

Oil accounts for more than one-third of Venezuela's gross domestic product and more than half of government revenue.

It remains unclear why so much food was left at the warehouse to go bad. The Attorney General's Office said in a statement Saturday results of the investigation are expected "in the coming days."

Observers have speculated that officials may have imported the food to receive some type of corporate kickbacks, and perhaps had no intention to distribute it. Others have said it may simply be a case of inefficiency within the government.

Robert Gonzalez, secretary general of the main oil workers federation FUTPV, told local El Nacional that Pulido may be a scapegoat.

"What does [PDVSA President] Ramirez have to do with this?" Gonzalez said in Sunday's edition. "We want answers."

-By Dan Molinski, Dow Jones Newswires; 58-414-120-5738; dan.molinski@dowjones.com