Maduro battles for control of US-based refinery

CARACAS (AP):

The government of President Nicolás Maduro says it is nullifying Venezuela’s newly named Citgo board, saying opposition leaders had no right to appoint them.

State comptroller Elvis Amoroso made the announcement yesterday amid a months-long fight for control of the country between Maduro and United States-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

The Houston-based Citgo refinery is Venezuela’s most valuable foreign asset and is at the centre of the power struggle.

The opposition-run National Assembly appointed the 15-member Citgo board this year after Guaidó declared presidential powers, arguing that Maduro’s presidency was illegitimate.

Amoroso says that the board members are banned from leaving the country and that their Venezuelan bank accounts have been frozen.

Amoroso also says that four leading figures opposed to Maduro, including former Attorney General Luisa Ortega, are banned from politics for 15 years.