In early March, Felix Rodriguez was appointed president of Citgo, the largest subsidiary of Petroleos De Venezuela SA, Venezuela's state-owned oil corporation. Rodriguez, a left-wing “populist,” is a close ally of the country’s Marxist ruler, Hugo Chavez. Commented the March 17 Houston Chronicle: “The arrival of Rodriguez, whose style is more reminiscent of the boisterous Chavez than a typical top energy executive, puts a new face at the head of the huge Houston-based refining and marketing operation.” Rodriguez’s ascent “also coincided with the arrival of several new board members, including Bernard Mommer, a German-born Marxist and behind-the-scenes architect of Chavez’s...