Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday appointed his economy vice president, Tareck El Aissami, who has been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges, as oil minister, amid acute fuel shortages across the country. Maduro named Asdrubal Chavez, cousin of the late President Hugo Chavez, as interim president of state oil firm PDVSA, according to the appointments published in the government’s official gazette. Venezuela’s 1.3 million-barrel-per-day refining network has all but collapsed after years of under-investment. U.S. sanctions aimed at ousting Maduro have strangled fuel imports, prompting Venezuelans to either wait hours outside gas stations or turn to the pricey black market. Venezuelans reported paying above $2 per liter ($7.57 per gallon) for gasoline last week, one of the […]