ZNet |Venezuela | Chavez One, Bush Zero

ZNet |Venezuela | Chavez One, Bush Zero:

"When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced last September that he wanted to help low income Americans cover the costs of their rising heating bills, his critics were quick to question the sincerity of his motivations. Was he saying this just to get a rise out of his diplomatic rival, President Bush? Would he actually deliver on such a ‘populist’ promise? But only a couple of months later, he launched a pilot program in the Bronx to transform rhetoric into action. Through the Venezuelan-owned, American-based Citgo Petroleum Corporation, Chavez has provided 181,000 American households with 40 million gallons of heating oil at a 40 percent discount, as well as free heating oil to hundreds of homeless shelters across the Northeast."