In a wonderful gesture of good-will, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered to help out poor Americans who will be victimized by Bush administration cuts. Chavez has now also offered to help the victims of hurricane Katrina.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered heating oil to poor communities in the United States to bypass the middlemen he claims inflate prices.
Mr. Chavez, 51, made the offer during his weekly television broadcast, Alo Presidente. Mr. Chavez said 140 communities or groups have requested energy aid from the South American country since the president said earlier this week that Venezuela could help poor families in the U.S. "We want to help the poorest communities in the U.S.," Mr. 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 co-ordinate distribution, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said. Citgo has eight refineries in the U.S., as well as 14,000 affiliated gas stations. Mr. Chavez and Mr. Ramirez did not say how much heating oil might be offered.
"There is poverty in the U.S.," Mr. Chavez said. "People freeze to death, people starve to death."
Mr. 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 per cent of its two million barrels a day of oil exports to the U.S.
Mr. Chavez also said 150,000 Americans will be offered medical care to correct vision problems.
