Venezuela's Chavez: Won't Fire PDVSA Head Over Food Scandal

[naaman fletcher]

ARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he's not going to fire the president of Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, over a growing scandal related to tens of thousands of tons of rotting food discovered at government warehouses overseen by the state energy company.

Chavez said opposition forces are wrong to blame PDVSA, and specifically PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez, for the scandal.

"It's not PDVSA," Chavez said late Thursday on state television. "Rafael Ramirez is not leaving this administration. I give my political and moral support to my great colleague, Rafael Ramirez."

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100603-715797.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

Maybe putting an oil company in charge of food wasn't a very good idea.