Venezuela Offers Heating Oil to U.S. Poor as Winter Approaches

international | anti-capitalism | news report Tuesday August 30, 2005 13:27 by Starstruck - DGN/Shell to Sea

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offers heating oil to poor communities

Chavez, 51, made the offer during his weekly television broadcast, ``Alo Presidente.'' Chavez said 140 communities or groups have requested energy aid from the South American country since Chavez said earlier this week that Venezuela could help poor families in the U.S.

Chavez and Castro

ThePoular Venezuelan leader has once again stretched out the hand of friendship to the international community and indeed to one of his country's least supportive neighbours,the U.S.A.
``We want to help the poorest communities in the U.S.,'' Chavez said. ``There are people who die from the cold in winter in the U.S.''

Citgo Petroleum Corp., the U.S. unit of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, may coordinate distribution, Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said. Citgo has eight refineries in the U.S., as well as 14,000 affiliated gasoline stations.

Chavez and Ramirez didn't say how much heating oil might be offered.

``There is poverty in the U.S.,'' Chavez said. ``People freeze to death, people starve to death.''

Chavez, who became president in 1999 after winning the presidency in a landslide, has repeatedly attacked multinational oil companies as one of the causes of rising energy prices. Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, sends more than 60 percent of its 2 million barrels a day of oil exports to the U.S.

Chavez also said 150,000 Americans will be offered medical care to correct vision problems.