The Calcasieu River ship channel is a fisherman’s paradise for speckled trout. It is also a vital thoroughfare for Venezuelan oil. Tankers with Venezuelan crude sail up to the Citgo refinery, while tankers carrying fuels processed in the refinery head down to the Gulf of Mexico for delivery to gas stations in Venezuela. That two-way traffic makes the refinery a lifeline for the besieged Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro — a role now in jeopardy. As a subsidiary of the government-controlled oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, Citgo has been mortgaged to raise money. The production of the parent company, known as Pdvsa, has been hard hit by the country’s turmoil. It is struggling to meet more than $1 billion in payments due in the next couple of months on its bonds and other obligations, including compensation for property it had nationalized. Trump administration sanctions […]