"Kennedy Oil Program Blasted as 'Propaganda' for Chavez" - AP (Boston), 16 February 2007, as carried on the Boston Herald's website (BostonHerald.com)
BOSTON - In a TV commercial, former Rep. Joseph Kennedy stands aboard an oil tanker moving across the Boston skyline and promises that millions of gallons of discounted heating oil are on their way to poor, shivering families, courtesy of “our good friends in Venezuela.”
What he doesn’t mention is that those “good friends” include Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist and staunch U.S. critic who famously called President Bush “the devil” in a speech last year at the United Nations.
The reference to Venezuela has led to accusations that Kennedy is a shill for Chavez.Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., fired off a letter to Kennedy this week accusing him of working with “a sworn enemy of the United States” and betraying the legacy of President John F. Kennedy, his uncle, who spoke of the perils of communism.
“Hugo Chavez is providing your company ‘low-cost heating oil’ not to help the American people, but rather to exploit his apologists in the name of public relations. Sadly, you have chosen to actively participate in his charade,” Mack wrote.
In an interview this week with The Associated Press, Mack went further, calling the ad “part of a propaganda message from Hugo Chavez.”Kennedy fired back by saying that if Mack wants to create a moral litmus test for oil-exporting countries and other trade partners, the congressman should hold Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and China to the same standard....
Although he declined to offer an opinion on Chavez, Kennedy did say he had “significant disagreement with the kind of personal politics that have characterized the relationship” between Chavez and Bush, on both sides. He also said “there have been many changes in Venezuela since I started going there 25 years ago, some of them for the better.”
Citizens Energy was founded by Kennedy in 1979 in the wake of the energy crisis of the late 1970s with the goal of reducing the cost of home heating oil for the poor and elderly.The corporation signed its first crude oil contract with Venezuela that year, and in its first 18 months, Citizens Energy had delivered more than 13 million gallons of home heating oil from Venezuela to families in Massachusetts. Citizens Energy has since expanded to 16 states and this year will deliver low-cost oil to between 300,000 and 400,000 households....
For some background on Venezuela's discounted fuel program in the US, see Venezuela Offers Additional Discounted Fuel to US - and Menaces US-Based HR Activist and Venezuela Offers Cheap Heating Oil to US Publics.
Venezuela uses 'oil diplomacy' in other countries, too:
"Chavez Opens Fuel Depot, Woos Dominica" - AP (Roseau, Dominica), 17 February 2007, as carried on the Miami Herald website (MiamiHerald.com)
ROSEAU, Dominica - (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez made a plea for Caribbean unity as he opened a fuel storage facility on this poor island on Friday, as part of a program offering Caribbean countries fuel on generous terms.
''We are one nation -- the Caribbean nation,'' Chávez told Dominica leaders in the capital, Roseau, where representatives of the two governments signed agreements on cooperation in tourism, education and other fields. ``Let's get together, truly.''
Under its Petrocaribe initiative, Venezuela has sent petroleum products and other aid to needy Caribbean countries to help them counter rising energy prices. Recipients are offered deferred payment and long-term financing for fuel shipments....
Petrocaribe is widely seen as an effort by Chávez -- long at odds with Washington -- to make inroads in a region where the United States is a major trading partner.
But Foreign Minister Charles Savarin said the former British colony's close ties to Caracas do not signal any distancing from Washington....
For other developments, see:
"US Imports from Venezuela at 12-Year Low" - AP (Caracas), 16 February 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- U.S. crude oil imports from Venezuela hit a 12-year low in 2006 amid increasingly strained political ties between the two countries, according to U.S. figures released Friday.
The preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that Venezuela was still the fourth-largest supplier of U.S. crude imports behind Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
The world's leading oil consumer imported 1.139 million barrels a day from Venezuela in 2006, down 8.2 percent from 1.241 million the previous year, according to the EIA. That's the lowest level since 1994, when the United States imported 1.034 million barrels a day....
Chavez has said Venezuela could switch exports to countries such as China and India [if necessary], although his ability to find an immediate substitute is complicated because most refineries capable of processing Venezuela's heavy crude are in the United States.
"Venezuela Beefs Security on Al Qaeda Oil Threat" - Reuters (Caracas), 15 February 2007
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will reinforce security measures after a branch of al Qaeda called for attacks on suppliers of oil to the United States, the defense minister said on Thursday....
Gen. Raul Baduel told reporters that security and intelligence agencies would "take actions and implement previously established security plans, but reinforce them with the goal of guaranteeing security."...
A Saudi wing of the terrorist group in a statement posted on a Web site on Wednesday called for attacks on suppliers of oil to the United States including Canada and Mexico to cut off crude supplies vital to the world's largest economy....
Luis Cabrera, a military advisor to the president, earlier had questioned the authenticity of the threat in comments published by local media.
He said it was illogical that "al Qaeda, which is against North American imperialism, would go against a state that is fighting, though in a different way, against that hegemony."...
He said it was illogical that "al Qaeda, which is against North American imperialism, would go against a state that is fighting, though in a different way, against that hegemony."...
Posted by: cheap ed hardy | 31 January 2010 at 01:47 AM
which is against North American imperialism, would go against a state that is fighting, though in a different way, against that hegemony.
Posted by: PK0-002 | 28 April 2010 at 11:21 PM
A Saudi wing of the terrorist group in a statement posted on a Web site on Wednesday called for attacks on suppliers of oil to the United States including Canada and Mexico to cut off crude supplies vital to the world's largest economy.
Posted by: Winsock LSP | 16 June 2010 at 10:19 PM
ed hardy is my favorite variety and novel style, with t-shirt, bags, glasses, pants, etc., the price is reasonable, it is a good choice for young people
Posted by: ed hardy | 10 October 2010 at 02:51 AM