Venezuela to help heat homes in Maine

As the ruling class and their servants savagely attack the working class and oppressed worldwide at every available opportunity, Venezuela is instilling hope through its Bolivarian Revolution by engaging in genuine unity and solidarity in the United States and beyond.

Beginning in November 2005, Venezuela’s most concrete form of humanitarian internationalism for U.S. residents to date is via CITGO, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. CITGO is the only major oil company to grant heating oil discounts to low-income people in the U.S., setting aside 10 percent of its oil production revenues to aid the poor.

Despite record-breaking profits of all of the U.S.-based Big Oil corporations in 2005—a reported $33 billion in 2005’s third quarter—none has granted one penny in discounts. But they have reduced production to drive up prices thus in effect enacting a wage cut upon tens of millions of U.S. residents, among other attacks.

‘A human face’

Maine Gov. John Baldacci, with representatives from the state’s heating oil assistance program and the Venezuelan government, signed a contract on Jan. 12 with CITGO to provide 8 million gallons of heating oil at a 40 percent discount to low-income residents.

CITGO also pledged to provide 120,000 gallons of heating oil to homeless shelters in Maine that will be delivered to more than 40 shelters by their heating oil suppliers. Residents expect to save 60 to 80 cents per gallon with the discount, a significant savings as home heating oil costs increased on average 30 to 50 percent over the 2004-2005 winter season. Many recipients say the assistance comes just in time as an often-frigid winter arrives.

In a separate deal, CITGO will provide discounted heating oil to more than 900 households on or near the Passama quoddy, Penobscot, Micmac and the Maliseet Native nations. This deal is worth approximately $543,000. The total CITGO discounts in Maine are worth more than $5 million, reaching more than 48,000 households.

“The Penobscot Nation is very grateful,” said Penobscot leader James Sappier. In regard to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías, Sappier added, “We appreciate him very much as a leader. It’s been said he’s one of us. His thinking is like ours.” (timesargus.com)

The Maine program follows similar ones in areas of the U.S. where extremely cold weather is a factor. CITGO’s discounted heating oil could be the difference between life and death and preventing or alleviating serious physical ailments due to lack of sufficient heat, specifically for children and elders.

“This program has a human face. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez made a promise in New York City following hurricanes Katrina and Rita and this Maine heating oil program represents the goodwill between the people of Venezuela and the United States,” said Venezuelan Ambassador Bernando Alvarez-Herrera upon the signing of the Maine deals.

“Help for those who need it most is a cornerstone of the new Venezuelan economy under President Chávez,” continued Alvarez-Herrera, “and this program, following similar ones in Massachusetts and the Bronx, is part of a new effort to increase regional integration.” (venezuelanalysis.com)

A statewide heating assistance program in Massachusetts began Nov. 22 and a similar program in the Bronx started Dec. 6. More than half-a-dozen are also imminent.

After Maine, CITGO and Rhode Island completed a deal Jan. 13. CITGO will sell 3.3 million gallons of heating oil to Citizens Energy, a nonprofit company that is also distributing the discounted heating oil in Massachusetts. Homeless shelters and community clinics will also be receiving discounted oil. Community organizations will help arrange the discounted oil shipments.

“This is going to really help us out a lot,” said Denise Bloomingburgh as Felix Rodriguez—president and CEO of CITGO—pumped the first discounted oil into her basement in Warwick. Bloom ingburgh and her husband have two children. She said rising energy costs, unemployment and inadequate part-time and temporary jobs have hit her family and others in her community and state hard.

Talks are ongoing for similar programs in Connecticut, Delaware, Penn sy lvania, Vermont and the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Harlem and Queens. CITGO hopes to have secured deals in place for these areas by the end of January.

Meanwhile in Chicago a battle is raging between the Chicago Transit Authority and its mostly poor riders and their allies. Since only about 12,000 households use heating oil in Illinois, CITGO offered the CTA a 40-50 percent discount on diesel fuel for buses to offset soaring oil and gas prices for low-income Chicagoans. Riders could then receive lower fares or other discounts, proposed CITGO. The CTA has refused CITGO’s proposed discounts on over 7 million gallons of diesel, worth almost $15 million, despite the transit agency’s announced budget deficit of $17 million for fiscal 2006.

The CTA isn’t a non-profit organization; it is a government agency that receives a significant amount of funding from the federal government. Just weeks after CITGO made its offer last fall, Congress passed the Federal Trans por tation Appropriations bill, allocating $89 billion in CTA infrastructure projects.

Under pressure from over 20 organized labor leaders, community activists and others, CTA officials have now agreed to meet with CITGO.

‘This revolution is real’

When the Venezuelan government announced on Jan. 8 CITGO’s intent to expand the home heating oil programs in the United States, a group of U.S. activists including artist Harry Belafonte, actor Danny Glover, Princeton University scholar Dr. Cornel West, journalist Tavis Smiley and United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta were touring a state-funded cooperative in Caracas with Alvarez-Herrera.

Upon hearing the heating oil announcement, they immediately hailed it as an advance for humanitarian internationalism and hope, said Dr. West. “This revolution is real; it’s not something that people are just talking about.” (venezuelanalysis.com)