3rd world poverty hits first world

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez saidthe South American country plans to offer 66,000 barrels of heating oil a day to the U.S. poor, helping them cope with soaring energy costs as winter approaches. Chavez said at a press conference today in Caracas that the heating oil would be sold directly to cities and communities, cutting out traditional middlemen who speculate and profit on price fluctuations.

"Without intermediaries, we could offer a cost reduction of up to 30 percent,'' Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters after the conference.

Chavez, 51, said yesterday during his weekly television address that 140 communities or groups have requested energy aid from the South American country since he offered last week to help poor families in the U.S. "The energy crisis is a crisis, especially for the poor,'' Chavez said.The 66,000-barrels-a-day figure is about 10 percent of the refining capacity of Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp., the U.S. refining unit of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, Chavez said.

Citgo has eight refineries in the U.S., as well as 14,000 affiliated gasoline stations. 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 percent of its 2 million barrels a day of oil exports to the U.S.


Oh the lovely irony. The US spends so much money invading other countries for oil that it can't even afford to heat their own houses. So now the 3rd world is giving them aid.

[ Blamed on hurricane windyelchepo ]