I admit that I am wrong. This was a murky subject for me. A few minutes of googling shows posts, articles, etc...stating both that Valero = Chavez and the opposite. Snopes has nothing on it.
I do not accept Wiki at face value for anything. I have seen things in it proven wrong. People go to it like its the gospel when all it takes is a committed group pushing an agenda or another side not giving enough of a crap to challenge an entry.
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives ... go_ve.html. I have found several like that & I think the confusion does stem from Citgo stations morphing into Valero stations, the large purchase of Citgo holdings by Valero, Valero sounding Latino, and Chavez's top associate being named Valero. I am still unsure if Valero gets a majority of its crude from Venezuela & that aided the rumors.
I had read more than once that Valero was a shell used to replace Citgo. But your post from Yahoo is convicing regardless of what wiki says.