by Susan Milligan
01-05-06
Leftist President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela said he would greatly expand the
discounted home heating oil program he started last year for needy people in
Massachusetts and other north-eastern states.
Chavez, a firebrand populist who has clashed repeatedly with President Bush,
said he would extend the program for next year and increase the amount of
cheaper oil available. Former US representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, who was
among a group that negotiated the deal with Chavez, said customers would have
more direct access to the heating oil and would be subject to looser eligibility
rules.
Chavez made the pledge after meeting with a group including Representative
William D. Delahunt, Democrat of Quincy, and Kennedy, who is now chairman of
Citizens Energy, a non-profit Massachusetts group. The two had played a key role
in negotiating the initial deal with Chavez last year that sent 12 mm gallons of
reduced-cost heating oil to Bay Staters this winter, which assisted about 45,000
needy families. Several other states negotiated similar deals.
That program set off sharp criticism from some Republicans who said Delahunt was
playing into the hands of Chavez and undermining US foreign policy by dealing
with an anti-American populist with a questionable human rights record.
The initiative to renew the discount oil program for the coming winter is
certain to intensify the political battles in the United States over how to
respond to the high price of gasoline and home energy costs -- including whether
the US government is itself doing enough to help the poor confront soaring fuel
costs.
While Chavez did not say how much more oil would be made available this year, he
said after meeting the delegation that he will move to a ’’second stage, an
expansion and deepening of the project." The oil will again be provided by Citgo,
the US distribution arm of the Venezuelan state oil company, Petroleos de
Venezuela.
While the controversial Venezuelan leader has irked the administration and
other critics with his anti-Bush rhetoric, he said that he had no problems with
the American people.
’’The only things we feel about the American people are affection, caring, and
the willingness to improve relations," Chavez said.
This past winter, Venezuela made 9 mm gallons of heating fuel available to
Massachusetts families, and another 3 mm to institutions that serve the poor.
Families got a 200-gallon shipment -- enough to last about three weeks -- for
about $ 276, which means a savings of about $ 184. The discounted fuel was
available through the Citizens Energy non-profit organization to families
eligible for federal fuel oil assistance, which offers an annual subsidy of $
550.
The expansion of the Venezuelan cut-rate oil offering is part of an effort to
begin to repair US-Venezuelan relations after years of confrontation, Chavez
said after his meeting with Delahunt, Kennedy and US Representative Gregory W.
Meeks, a Democrat from Queens, NY.
Kennedy and the two congressmen hailed the agreement as critical relief to
low-income families facing growing energy costs. The three dismissed suggestions
that they were giving Chavez yet another opportunity to tweak the US president,
whom Chavez has called ’’Mr Dangerous" and a ’’murderer."
Long-time Massachusetts Republican consultant Charles Manning, referring to
Chavez as ’’the most... anti-American government leader in South America,"
called the relationship between the Venezuelan president and the proponents of
the heating oil program unsavoury and hypocritical.
’’If Hugo Chavez wants to play politics in our country by giving us low-cost oil
while he’s short-changing the people of Venezuela, that’s fine with me," Manning
said. ’’But it shows you what type of bad guy he is, and I don’t understand why
Delahunt and Kennedy would want to do business with someone like that."
Under the ’’second stage" of the program, the oil will be delivered more
directly to consumers and the eligibility terms will be broadened, Kennedy said.
He said he had written to every major company in the US oil business -- an
industry now enjoying record profits -- and asked for discounted oil for the
poor, but was turned down by all of them. Only Venezuela agreed to provide
cut-rate home heating oil, he said.
Delahunt also shrugged off criticism of the program, and accused Republicans of
failing to give enough funding to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP), which provides cash assistance to needy families for heating and
cooling homes.
’’We want to get more [discounted Venezuelan oil], particularly when we’re
looking at $ 3 a gallon at the pump and $ 70 a barrel" for oil, Delahunt said.
’’We want to extend the deal because we don’t have confidence in the
administration and the Republican Congress to deliver adequate dollars for the
LIHEAP program."
Congress has repeatedly failed to come through with the full amount of money it
has promised for LIHEAP.
The move served to boost the goals of all the parties in the negotiations:
Delahunt and Meeks got lower-cost heating oil for their districts; Kennedy got a
promise of cheaper oil for his customers, and Chavez got another opportunity to
needle Bush. Chavez said he was willing to rebuild relations with the current
administration, which he believes participated in the April 2002 coup attempt
that briefly ousted Chavez from power.
The Bush administration appeared to embrace the coup when it happened, but
denied it had any role in the uprising. Chavez was restored to power that month
by the military.
But the Venezuelan leader hinted that he could not fully re-establish warm
relations with Washington until after Bush was gone, calling the administration
’’transitional."
’’I think our relations with the US administration couldn’t be worse. That’s
positive," Chavez said with a chuckle, and said things could only get better.
’’Did you ever have a problem with your husband or your friend, where you throw
dishes at each other?” Chavez asked. “After some talking, itgets better," he
said.
Despite Chavez’s bad relationship with the Bush administration, Americans who
can’t afford to heat their homes don’t care about the politics of the situation,
said Meeks.
’’I just had a town hall meeting, and when I said I was coming here [to ask for
reduced-cost oil], they all applauded," said Meeks, adding that several other
members of Congress have approached him about getting a similar deal for their
districts.
American consumers who were flown to Caracas by CITGO to thank the Venezuelan
government agreed.
’’We’re talking about basic needs. It’s not like Mafia money or drug money,"
said Linda Kelly, a 45-year-old Quincy homemaker. She was among 61 heating oil
consumers who were taken to Venezuela by CITGO, a journey that was separate from
the congressmen’s trip. ’’Maybe you don’t like his [Chavez’s] politics, but who
are we to say?" she added.
Peggy Longueil of Brattleboro, Vermont, said the discounted oil is critical
to covering her household budget.
’’It givesus a chance to not have to worry about whether we’re going to pay for
food or oil, or medicine or oil," said the 64-year-old, who was at a dinner for
the heating oil beneficiaries.
Chavez came to power in 1998 in a democratic election, but human rights
groups have accused him of thwarting press freedom and loading the judicial
branch with judges sympathetic to him.
The Venezuelan leader has used his nation’s surging oil revenues to help the
Venezuelan poor, a move that has contributed to his popularity at home. But
critics warn that Chavez is playing a risky financial and political game by
relying on high oil prices that may one day fall, potentially leaving him with a
discontented populace and a national budget problem.
Ralph Ranalli of the Globe staff contributed to this report in Boston.
Source: Boston Globe