Chavez Pushes Petro-Diplomacy

High Oil Profit Leads to Venezuela’s Plan to Subsidize Heating in United States

The plea came in a letter from a group of U.S. senators to nine big oil companies: With huge increases in winter heating bills expected, the letter read, we want you to donate some of your record profits to help low-income people cover those costs.

But the lawmakers received only one response. It came from Citgo Petroleum Corp., a company controlled by the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez, a nettlesome adversary of the United States who has accused the Bush administration of plotting to assassinate him and invade his oil-rich country.
The chief executive of Citgo wrote to the senators that the company is “studying potential plans for ongoing, sustained assistance programs in the United States with the goal of lifting our neighbors in need to an improved quality of life.” Citgo is planning to announce today that it will provide discounted heating oil this winter to many low-income residents of Massachusetts, Venezuelan officials said, adding that the plan was in the works before the senators sought help. The company also plans to offer similar aid in New York.

Citgo’s plan is the latest example of how Chavez is using a windfall created by soaring oil prices as a diplomatic tool, analysts said. Chavez has used oil in an effort to win friends and allies across Latin America and the Caribbean but has had limited success. In recent months Chavez has aimed his petro-diplomacy directly at the United States, partly in hopes of embarrassing the Bush administration, analysts said.

Washington Post