…at least not until there is complete regime change in Venezuela.

Citgo is the American retail brand of Venezuela’s PVDSA, the state-run oil company which has been turned into a honey pot for the recently-deceased dictator of that country.

And apparently there were Citgo stations flying American flags at half-mast to mourn that dictator’s death. From the Houston Chronicle…

The death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has received extra notice in Houston, home base of Citgo, the national oil company of Venezuela.

At Citgo Petroleum Corp. headquarters, 1293 Eldridge Parkway, flags on Wednesday were reportedly lowered to half-staff in memory of the South American leader who died Tuesday after battling cancer.

Citgo stations are independently owned, so the decisions to lower a flag at a particular station would be up to each owner, a spokeswoman said.

The company issued this statement Wednesday by email: “President Hugo Chávez of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela leaves behind a legacy of support for the underprivileged and promotion of social justice that transcends geographical boundaries.”

“We at Citgo Petroleum Corporation are deeply saddened by the news of his passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the people of Venezuela in this time of grief,” the statement said.

Citgo is a refiner and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products.

How awful. How disrespectful.

How disastrously poor public relations work.

There are lots of people out there who sell gas. Pick one of the others from now on.

UPDATE: Oh, by the way – they were also at half-mast at Citgo’s Lake Charles refinery…

Meanwhile, Terry Backhaus, a financial adviser in Louisiana, told FoxNews.com the flags at the Citgo refinery in Lake Charles had apparently been raised back by noon. “I think I used a profanity when I saw it this morning, I was disgusted,” Bakhaus said. “I didn’t believe it to be right, not for somebody who wasn’t a true American ally.”