Venezuela’s Low-Cost Oil Plan Fuels Debate

The first deliveries of inexpensive Venezuelan heating oil to cash-strapped Massachusetts residents will not arrive for several weeks, but the deal involving President Hugo Chavez already is generating political heat on both sides.

Venezuela’s state-owned oil company ran full-page ads Thursday in two major U.S. newspapers trumpeting its deal as “humanitarian aid” and a “simple act of generosity.”

The ads in the Washington Post and the New York Times came a day after the Wall Street Journal scolded Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) and former Rep. Joe Kennedy for their cooperation with Chavez, one of President Bush’s harshest critics.

“Mr. Delahunt’s lobbying for the dictator undermines any official U.S. pressure on Mr. Chavez to behave more humanely, which is precisely why Mr. Chavez is returning the favor by plying Mr. Delahunt with cheap oil,” the Journal said. “Leave it to the congressman ... and a Kennedy to close the deal.”

Tensions have run high recently between Bush and Chavez, a self-styled socialist who criticizes American-style capitalism and has branded Bush a “madman.”

Chavez’s critics contend the oil deal is a ploy to score public relations points and to tweak the Bush administration.

Venezuela’s Citgo Petroleum Corp. promoted its plan to offer 12 million gallons of cut-rate oil this winter with the headline: “How Venezuela is Keeping the Home Fires Burning In Massachusetts.”

Delahunt and Kennedy, whose Citizens Energy Corp. will help deliver the oil, counter that keeping poor people warm is their priority.

“I don’t report to George Bush,” Delahunt said. “I’m elected by the people here in Massachusetts. So I don’t feel any particular need to consult with George Bush or Dick Cheney about oil.”

Other foreign suppliers of oil to the U.S. have authoritarian governments and are accused of human rights abuses, a Kennedy aide said.

“If we applied a democratic screen to countries we get our oil from, we’d never have enough oil to heat our homes and drive our cars,” said Kennedy’s spokesman, Brian O’Connor.

The Bush administration praised the deal but balked at commenting about Chavez and his motivations.

“We commend this act of good corporate citizenship,” said Energy Department spokesman Craig Stevens. The White House referred questions about the oil deal to the department.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential 2008 GOP presidential contender, had kind words for the cut-rate oil program.

Cash-strapped homeowners in Massachusetts are welcoming any help against steep energy prices.

“Why would it matter where it comes from?” said Bridget Durkin, 70, who lives alone in Quincy and relies on fuel assistance.

Virginia Holdstock, 82, of Wollaston, who said she lived on a fixed income from a small pension and Social Security, also expected to receive a delivery of discounted oil from Citizens Energy this month.

“I am blessed to have this help,” she said, adding that Venezuela is the only country “doing anything for us. None of the others want to help.”

The first deliveries of Venezuelan oil will be made Dec. 12, when many residents will exhaust their federal fuel aid for the season, O’Connor said.

Other Northeast states are exploring similar deals.