Letter From Venezuela

[Guest guest]

Letter From Venezuela

 

By Christopher Bollyn

\American Free Press

2-17-6

 

 

http://rense.com/general69/venuz.htm

 

As the cold weather arrived late last fall, and oil prices reached

new highs,

a dozen U.S. senators appealed to the major oil companies to show

some 'sense of corporate

citizenship' and help less fortunate Americans get through the winter

in the face of cuts in federal assistance.

 

The Bush administration, which has demonstrated an appalling

disregard for the rule of law and the welfare of its own people, is

viciously attacking Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, a populist

leader who is using his nation's immense oil wealth to improve the

lives of his people and his neighbors ­ including many Americans.

ISLA MARGARITA, Venezuela ­ The ongoing war of words being waged

between the Bush administration and Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez

was in full swing as I traveled from Miami to Caracas, the capital of

the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made the outrageous comparison

of Hugo Chávez with Adolf Hitler in the beginning of what The

Washington Post reported as having been " an especially ugly week in

the hostile relationship " between the Bush administration and the

increasingly popular Chávez.

The week started with Venezuela expelling a U.S. naval attaché on

charges of spying, which led to the expulsion of a senior Venezuelan

diplomat from Washington, and ended with the U.S. blocking a deal in

which Venezuela was to buy coastal patrol boats from Spain. While

Spain had initially said it would replace the U.S.-made components on

the boats with French-made parts, by the end of the week Spain had

suddenly cancelled the lucrative contract with no explanation

provided.

Rumsfeld, who serves under a president who was, in fact, not elected

by the people, made a rather odd comment comparing two legally

elected leaders: " Chávez was elected legally, just as Adolf Hitler

was elected legally, " Rumsfeld said, " And then consolidated his

power. " The " populist leadership " of Chávez, which appeals to " masses

of people, " Rumsfeld said,

is " worrisome " to the Bush administration.

After a week in Venezuela, however, I have yet to meet a Venezuelan

who has expressed any worries or concerns about the populist reforms

initiated by Chávez. The Venezuelans and foreigners I have met have

nothing but praise for the wide-ranging improvements Chávez has

brought to the people. They talk frequently of the improved public

hospitals and schools where medical treatment and education are now

provided free of charge.

Venezuelans often ask if I am American. When I tell them that I am

from Chicago they seem pleased and go out of their way to be helpful.

I am writing from Playa El Yaque on the south coast of Isla

Margarita, where American windsurfers in 1984 first discovered ideal

sailing conditions with consistent strong winds and smooth seas.

Since then it has become an international haven attracting

windsurfers and kite-surfers from all over the world.

Driving through Caracas in a large American-made car from the 1980's,

the taxi driver told me that Venezuela's cheap gasoline was " a gift "

from Chávez. A gallon of gas costs less than 280 Bolivars, the

equivalent of about 12 U.S. cents, and it costs less than $2 to fill

the tank. Likewise, Venezuela provides subsidized oil and gas to

dozens of nations throughout the Caribbean Basin and Latin America.

" Chávez is making friends while Bush is earning enmity, " was the

title of Andres Oppenheimer's article in The Miami Herald on February

9. " You don't have to be a genius to figure out why Washington is

losing influence in Latin America, " Oppenheimer wrote. " While Chávez

is making headlines with vows to give about $3.7 billion a year to

his neighbors, the Bush administration wants to cut back its

estimated $1.2 billion in U.S. foreign aid to the region. "

Hundreds of thousands of poor Americans in five Northeastern states

have been on the receiving end of Venezuela's generosity. This winter

alone, hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans from

Pennsylvania and New York to Maine and Vermont have received more

than 25 million gallons of subsidized heating oil for their homes.

" LYNCHING " CHÁVEZ

Late last year as oil prices spiked, a dozen U.S. senators asked 10

major oil companies to donate a portion of their record profits to

help the poor. As USA Today reported, " Only Citgo [a subsidiary of

Venezuela's state-owned oil company] responded, dispatching tankers

to housing projects in New York and Massachusetts in what Felix

Rodriguez, the company president and chief executive, called a

purely 'humanitarian' gesture.

" Rodriguez said that Chávez had ordered the giveaway so poor

Americans wouldn't have to choose between food and heat. "

But rather than showing appreciation, the USA Today article by David

J. Lynch carried a photo of motorists pumping gas at a Citgo gas

station with the alarming caption, " Chávez could destroy the U.S.

economy in 90 days, an energy banker said. "

" What if Chávez closed Citgo's refineries? " the CIA-linked newspaper

asked?

" He'd only have to do that for 90 days, and he'd destroy our

economy, " Matthew Simmons, " a prominent energy investment banker, "

told Lynch. " He actually has our livelihood in his hands, " Simmons

said.

" At the high point of oil and gas prices, a dozen U.S. senators of

both parties appealed to oil companies' 'sense of corporate

citizenship' to help less fortunate Americans get through the winter

in the face of cuts in federal assistance, " Fadi Kabboul of the

Venezuelan Embassy in Washington wrote to USA Today in response to

the Lynch article. " Citgo did its part. No other oil company has done

so. It makes the criticism in the article seem petty. "

So why is the Bush administration so hostile to Chávez? Why is a

government that shares its oil wealth with its people and neighbors

considered a threat? Why is the foreign leader who was first to offer

help to the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast viewed as harboring evil

intentions by the controlled media and the federal government whose

own response to the dire plight of its citizens has been

called " late, uncertain and ineffective, " by Senator Susan Collins (R-

Maine)?

The answer to these questions is obvious. Venezuela, the world's

fifth-largest oil exporter with the largest proven reserves outside

of the Mideast, has long been considered by the " big oil " companies

as America's own privately-run gas station. Chávez, however, has put

an end to foreign control and plundering of Venezuela's oil resources

and the immense profits they generate. One does not have to look far

to see that, over the decades, very little of this nation's oil

wealth has trickled down to the average Venezuelan.

Venezuela is particularly strong in refining capacity. As I rode past

the sprawling refinery outside of Puerto de la Cruz, I was amazed at

the size of Venezuela's second largest refinery, which covers

thousands of acres. Venezuela's largest refinery, the Paraguana

Refining Center is five times larger with a capacity of nearly 1

million barrels per day.

Venezuela also owns a 50 percent equity interest in the Hovensa

refinery on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which has a

capacity of 500,000 barrels per day, and it leases the huge Emmastad

refinery on the nearby island of Curacao. Over decades, most of the

products produced at these refineries have been exported to the U.S.

The Bush administration and the " big oil " money behind it are clearly

displeased with the change in ownership, the nationalization of

Venezuela's oil fields, which Chávez brought about. These plutocrats

are now engaged in an international political and propaganda campaign

to malign the popular leader who has stood up to their global

tyranny.

New Year's Day 2006 saw the return of Venezuelan state control over

32 privately operated oil fields. Venezuelan oil minister Rafael

Ramirez said the state successfully completed " the recovery " of the

32 fields whose control had been ceded to private hands in the 1990s

under concessions allowing companies to independently pump oil under

contract.

In 2001, Venezuela passed a law requiring oil production to be

carried out by companies majority-owned by the government. The

deadline for converting the privately-owned operating agreements into

joint ventures in which the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela

SA (PDVSA), would hold the controlling stake was Dec. 31.

While other oil companies went along with the conversions, Exxon

Mobil Corp. of Irving, Texas, resisted the contract changes, the

Associated Press reported on Jan. 4. The conversions to joint

ventures with PDVSA " will significantly reduce the oil companies'

share of profits and control over operations and could also undermine

the value of their Venezuelan assets, " AP reported.

Venezuela's stake could be as much as 90 percent in the new ventures.

The amount of investment made by the private companies in the fields

will determine the amount of control they have, Ramirez said.

Finis

With hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans unable to heat

their homes, President Hugo Chávez ordered CITGO to send subsidized

heating oil to New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and other

Northeastern states so that poor Americans wouldn't have to choose

between food and heat.

When the U.S. Congress asked the oil companies, who have had record

profits during the past few years, to help the poorest Americans in

their hour of need ONLY one company answered the call: CITGO.

You might think about that next time you fill up your car.

Photo courtesy of Brandon Stone at www.brandonstone.com