Vermont could be in Venezeula's cheap-oil pipeline

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Vermont could be in Venezeula's cheap-oil pipeline

Published: Friday, December 16, 2005
By Terri Hallenbeck
Free Press Staff Writer

MONTPELIER -- Some of that cheap Venezeulan oil that has been flowing into the homes of poor people in Massachusetts and New York might make its way to Vermont, under a plan being negotiated by Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

The deal is not sealed, but a plan in the works would have the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association buying fuel from Citgo, an oil company controlled by the Venezuelan government, said Sean Cota, a member of the association's board of directors and co-owner of Cota & Cota fuel dealership in Bellows Falls. Because the fuel is offered at lower prices than other oil companies are charging, the savings would be passed on to help those receiving home-heating assistance.

The move would give Vermont much-needed relief in providing help to people who are struggling to pay unusually high heating bills this season, but it would also put Republican Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas in the awkward position of accepting help from a leftist critic of President Bush.

Heat won out over politics, said Douglas' spokesman, Jason Gibbs.
(snip/...)

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051216/NEWS01/512160313/1009&theme=

Sanders hopes to get cheap Venezuela oil for Vermont
December 16, 2005

MONTPELIER, Vt. --U.S. Rep. Bernard Sanders is trying to get the Venezuelan government to sell discounted heating oil to low income Vermonters.
A plan that is being negotiated would have the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association buy oil from Citgo, a company controlled by the Venezuelan government, said association director Sean Cota of Cota & Cota, a Bellows Falls fuel dealership.

The government of Venezuelan President Hugh Chavez announced last month it would sell discounted oil to needy customers in Massachusetts and New York City as a way to ease the pain of high fuel prices. Many saw it as a political stunt by Chavez, who is a fierce critic of President Bush.

"This is not a political issue, it's a humanitarian issue," said Sanders, an independent.

Gov. James Douglas is ready to put politics aside, too.

"He is not particularly enthusiastic about the idea, but his focus is on being sure that Vermonters have access to the most affordable home-heating fuel on the market," said Douglas's spokesman Jason Gibbs. "We hope the decision by Citgo will inspire other companies to offer similar discounts. We'll leave the foreign policy issues to the mucky-mucks in Washington."
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2005/12/16/sanders_hopes_to_get_cheap_venezuela_oil_for_vermont/

Alright, Soon-to-be Senator Sanders ;)

Let's not forget who's bringing the cheap oil to citizens of a power that tried to have him ousted from elected office.

nt

VENEZUELA: Nutritious food a ‘basic human right’

Owen Richards

We’re crammed into a small kitchen, maybe three by four metres, with blue concrete walls. Lining the walls are shelves stocked with kitchen basics — string bags of potatoes, garlic cloves, carrots, pumpkins and melons. There’s a bucket of chopped onions. A giant stainless steel pot waits empty on the gas stove. Four women and a man, in matching red aprons, hand-roll fish cakes and banana balls. A tiny wall fan hums in the background.

It could be a kitchen anywhere, but it’s quite different. The members of the Caracas section of the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Brigade are here in Guaicaipuro Casa de Alimentaciones on July 29, witnessing firsthand one of the social achievements of the Bolivarian revolution. It is here in this modest house that 150 people come daily to receive two free meals.

There are some 4000 of these kitchens now across Venezuela. They are only possible because of the revolutionary will of the Venezuelan people and the assistance provided by the government of President Hugo Chavez.

Established to guarantee access to nutritious food — particularly for pregnant women, children, the over-60s and the extreme poor — the casas are nonetheless open to all.

They will not accept any money for the food, not even a donation. In fact, they have been instructed by the government to feed everyone who visits, even if they be from rich First World countries. And that is how we came to be eating delicious fishcakes, banana balls and rice complimented by endless arepas and fruit juices. The point of feeding tourists and fact-finders, they tell us, is to show the world that their food is both tasty and nutritious.
(snip)

“There are two things we want the world to know”, one worker says. “This kitchen is not about charity. Nutritious food is a basic human right. Also, please emphasise that the people of this community are totally with Chavez. If anyone tries anything, they will face us. This is not only a Venezuelan revolution — it’s Bolivarian, Christian, socialist. It’s a revolution for the world and we will defend it.”
(snip/...)
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/639/639p12b.htm

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Interestingly enough, someone recently made the exact claim you've just made. Small world, isn't it? Sounds like you two belong to the same club! Funny two people could come up with the same impulse to misinform on the same subject.

Helping the poor IS what the Chavez administration does. That's why the oligarchy hates him more than death itself.

with names like Kennedy and Sanders and Serrano rather than Bush and Baker and Cheney. I think the results are better when Kennedy and Sanders and Serrano get into the oil business.

We don't see that happening a lot during Republican regimes.

caring man as he truly cares about we the people!

He cares about the people of Vermont unlike the current administration's rich oil buddies.

Chavez puts these criminals to shame by being generous and speaking the truth.

(to use a phrase I've seen elsewhere).