DU'ers have been discussing the oil which has gone to US Native American tribes
and to other US citizens whose Democratic Congressmen, governors, mayors secured deeply discounted oil for the neediest among us starting in 2005, when they ran out of oil companies they had believed might be moved to provide assistance with cheaper heating oil for the harsh, deadly winters here.
Once they had gained audience with the US oil companies, they were blown off, told to pound sand. It was only AFTER they had been rejected by domestically owned companies that the next step was Venezuela.
It was a topic of conversation at DU for many, many years, and was even covered by corporate tv and print "news."
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From DU'er Cal04:
cal04 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jan-15-07 08:14 PM
Original message
Venezuelan Oil Reaches Alaska Villages
Alaskan villages have begun receiving a much-criticized donation of heating fuel from the Venezuelan oil company Citgo, about two months later than organizers had hoped.
More than 11,000 homes in rural Alaska are eligible for 100 gallons each as part of Citgo's pledge to donate 1 million gallons of heating fuel to poor Americans.
Coordinators of the giveaway, led by the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, had hoped vouchers would reach villages by Nov. 1. But Citgo needed paperwork verifying addresses and head of households for every home in more than 150 villages - an enormous undertaking in many remote areas, said Steve Sumida of the tribal council.
(snip)
``It was a great way to start the new year,'' said Gambell resident Jennifer Apatiki, whose husband hauled home a 55-gallon drum of free heating oil late last month. Heating fuel costs $4.65 a gallon in Gambell, and Apatiki said she has spending more than $600 a month to heat her home this winter.
http://election.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2690295
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From DU'er PeacePatriot:
U.S. Poor to Benefit from 6th Year of Subsidized Venezuelan Heating Oil
By JUAN REARDON – VENEZUELANALYSIS.COM
Mérida, January 28th 2011 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Yesterday Venezuela’s Petroluem Corporation, CITGO announced the start of its sixth year providing subsidized heating oil to low-income people in the United States. An estimated 132,000 households across the U.S. will benefit from the program this year, amounting to $60 million dollars worth of savings.
Joseph P. Kennedy II, son of the late U.S politician Robert Kennedy and president of Citizen Energy Corporation, the U.S.-based non-profit organization that partnered with Citgo in 2005 to launch the Citgo-Venezuela Heating Oil Program, spoke at the Citgo ceremony on Thursday.
“Every year, we hear from families who struggle each and every day to put food on the table and heat their homes,” he said.
“We are deeply grateful to CITGO and the people of Venezuela for their generosity... Every year, we ask major oil companies and oil-producing nations to help our senior citizens and the poor make it through winter, and only one company, CITGO, and one country, Venezuela, has responded to our appeals,” he said.
In 2010, an estimated 500,000 people in the U.S. benefited from the program....in 25 states.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x47806
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From DU'er Joanne98
Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-19-07 03:57 PM
Original message
Hugo Chavez steps up for Native Americans and the poor
http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarti...
Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) 3/19/2007
Native American journalist Jodi Lee Rave of Lee Enterprise Newspapers was recently lambasted in a letter to the editor to our local daily for having the temerity to laud the donation of funds for heating fuel for the very poor Indian nations of the Northern Plains.
The criticism was initiated by the fact that the donor was the Citgo Petroleum Corporation based in Houston, Texas and headed by the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, the man reviled by many Americans for referring to President George W. Bush on the floor of the United Nations as the “Devil.”
How did it happen that the President of Venezuela reached out to help the poor and the indigenous people of the United States? After two major hurricanes devastated the Southern U. S., a group of U. S. Senators sent out a plea to the major oil companies to help low-income families with energy assistance. Most major oil companies were coming off of scandalous profits because of the sharp rise in fuel costs. Only one company heeded the plea of the senators and that was Citgo Petroleum Corporation headed by Chavez.
Federal and state funding for low-income energy assistance programs has dropped dramatically in the past few years. A late winter blast in the Northern Plains hit at a time when most of the federal dollars for low-income energy assistance had run out. The late winter freeze left many indigenous people in dire straits. When it comes to a matter of surviving, Indians and other impoverished people reach out to any assistance available. Olympic Gold Medallist Billy Mills, an Oglala Lakota, used his non-profit Running Strong Foundation to raise energy funds for some low-income households, but even his generosity could not fill the need.
Many tribes in Montana and North and South Dakota were advised to attend a meeting in Polson, Montana on December 13, 2006 to listen and discuss how they could avail themselves of the money for heating assistance. Rafael Gomez, Vice President of Citgo, and Brian O’Connor of the Citizens Energy Corporation of Boston attended the meeting. O’Connor’s non-profit organization administered the program last year and would be charged with administering the program for the Indian tribes.
Although major oil corporations like Exxon had reaped more profit last year than at any time in their history, they declined the invitation to lend a helping hand to the poor people of America. Hugo Chavez stepped in to fill the gap. What motives would prompt him to do this? Certainly it would not help him politically, at least not in America where one of this Nation’s top religious figures, Pat Robertson, called for his assassination.
Some of the very poor Indian tribes like the Chippewa Cree of the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana, the Cheyenne River and the Oglala Sioux Tribes in South Dakota needed the funds in order to keep their people from freezing to death and accepted the donation from Mr. Chavez willingly. Where was the rich casino owning tribes? Busy counting their money I would guess.
There is an old saying out here that goes, “You will know me better when you walk a mile in my moccasins.” Hugo Chavez is a member of an indigenous tribe in Venezuela. He has been called “Indio” and worse while growing up as the child of very poor parents. He has walked in the moccasins of the indigenous people.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x269818
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From DU'er Catherina:
A Song for Hugo Chavez
Friday, 15 March 2013 12:47
By Winona LaDuke, Indian Country Today Media Network
...
I was a great admirer of Hugo Chavez, thankful for his generosity, his courage, his leadership, and his commitment to Indigenous peoples.
My first memory of Venezuela, being an American educated child, was dim. But, I do remember pictures of Native people in the Venezuelan jungle being gunned down, and hanging like deer from trees- the result of gold prospecting in their territories. The year was 1977. That is a stark image- one where humans are treated like game animals, and I have never forgotten it.
...
At a 2005 Congressional hearing , oil executives were being chastised because corporate earnings were matched with dire conditions in many communities. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP and Royal Dutch/Shell reported total earnings last quarter of nearly $33 billion. In the meantime, many Americans were facing fuel poverty, absolute hardship about keeping their houses warm. Twelve U.S. Senators asked oil companies to donate some of their record-setting profits to people in need.
Citgo was the only company to respond. Citgo Petroleum, joined with Citizens Energy under the leadership of Joseph Kennedy and began distribution of fuel oil from the Bronx and Brooklyn to the Alaskan Sub Arctic. Our reservation was included. Our first year, we received roughly $l.7 million in fuel assistance, and this continued for six years since. Each year, tribes in northern Minnesota, North Dakota and elsewhere have benefitted from the largesse of the Venezuelan government owned Citgo Petroleum Corp. As the price of fuel went up, 240 tribal communities received hundreds of millions of dollars of fuel assistance as fuel prices skyrocketed.
Some politicians encouraged our tribes to turn down the money, but Wayne Bonne of the Fond du Lac tribe, commented, "to us, it would be a foolish move. We're not a wealthy tribe," Bohn said. "We could make a political statement, but making a political statement while your people freeze is not very wise."
...
http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/15145-a-song-for-hugo-chavez
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110810298
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This is the story of how several U.S. based organisations asked every oil company operating in America for assistance to provide free or cheap heating oil to the disadvantaged in the United States of America.
Exxon , BP and all the major and minor oil firm refused point blank.All except one.That company was the Venezuelan state run oil giant PDVSA and there state owned subsidiery CITGO :-
CITGO, Venezuela Distributes Oil To U.S. Services
January 8th 2008, by Tony Aiello - WCBSTV
NEW YORK (CBS) ― For scores of low-income families it will be like the equivalent of winning a small lottery jackpot. A program run by former Congressman Joe Kennedy will deliver free heating oil – donated by Citgo and the Chavez regime in Venezuela – to some 200,000 households. CBS 2 takes a look at how the program works, and who qualifies.
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According to CITGO, The CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program will provide an estimated 112 million gallons of fuel this winter to be distributed in more than 224,000 households and 250 social service providers in 23 states. These totals include the CITGO-Venezuela Tribal Heating Oil Program.
Once CBS 2 was able to get through, operators said they would send an application, asking basic information about household size and annual income.
Kennedy's office disclosed the income limit as 60 percent of the state median. So a New York family of four, for example, must make less than $43,302 to qualify. The only income verification is your signature, certifying you are telling the truth.
Santiago applied on Dec. 4, 2007, and a week later received a voucher to pay her oil company when it delivered 100 gallons on Dec. 14.Santiago says it's almost $400 she won't have to spend, warming her home. For many, that's a warm thought.
Kennedy's office says every qualifying household that applies will be approved until all the available oil is allocated. That is projected to occur before the application period ends on Feb. 29, so the time to apply is now.
source http://wcbstv.com/local/joe.kennedy.citgo.2.624860.html
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A ton of easily located information beckons you to familiarize yourself with the facts.
