Chavez lauds 'win' over ExxonMobil

CARACAS, Venezuela, March 25 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his country's recent victory in a lawsuit over ExxonMobil was akin to "a win against the Yankees."

Last week a judge in London unfroze $12 billion in Venezuelan assets seized last month amid a legal battle with U.S. petroleum giant ExxonMobil over the nationalization of its projects in Venezuela.

"I feel like a baseball manager that suddenly has his team … winning against the Yankees," said Chavez, El Universal reported Tuesday.

But the battle between Exxon and PDVSA is far from over, according to analysts.

"Both companies will likely harden their positions, and continue to battle each other out in the courts over the next several years," said Patrick Esteruelas, a Latin America analyst for the New York-based think tank Eurasia Group.