Mr. Chavez, Keep Your Oil<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
J. Michael Sharman
 
 
Let me tell you why I'm going to miss the great coffee I used to get from 7-11 when I filled up with Citgo gas.
The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Republic of Venezuela owns 100% of Citgo Petoleum Corporation.[1] Hugo Chavez is the President of Venezuela.
That in itself is a pretty complete explanation, but here are the details:
On September 20, 2006, Mr. Chavez spoke to the United Nations in New York City, and began by praising Noam Chomsky's book, "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance". He said, "I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is in their own house. The devil is right at home. The devil -- the devil, himself, is right in the house."[2]
At a post-speech press conference, Mr. Chavez continued to state his admiration for Mr. Chomsky, and said he only wished he could have met Chomsky before his death. Mr. Chomsky, appreciated his new-found bestseller[3] status, but held his own press conference to disagree that he was dead.[4]
The remainder of Mr. Chavez' UN speech maintained that same level of political farce:
"And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday, the devil came here. Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of. [T]he president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world. I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States.  As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world."
It's time to inject some tragic reality into this ridiculous debate.
According to Amnesty International, more than 6,100 people were killed by Venezuelan police under Chavez' administration  between 2000 and mid-2005. Of the nearly 6,000 police officers implicated in those murders, less than 250 have been arrested.[5]
On April 11, 2002 hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested against Chavez at the presidential Miraflores Palace. Chavez' police units shot and killed 19 protesters and wounded many more. "We have audiotapes of Chavez giving orders to fire on the demonstrators," says the attorney for the victims' family members, Pedro Martinez-Fraga.[6]
In 2004, Chavez prohibited news stories which would "condone or incite" public disturbances or publish messages "contrary to the security of the nation". An offender could get their broadcasting suspended for up to 5 years. In March 2005, additional laws imposed jail time for those desacato (disrespect) laws. Human Rights Watch reported that "Police violence, torture, and abusive prison conditions are also among the country's most serious human rights problems."[7]
Mr. Chavez's speech proposed that the United Nations move its headquarters to Venezuela, presumably so that he could control it. He also demanded that Venezuela have a seat on the UN Security Council.[8]
 On September 12, 2006, Colombia's ambassador to the OAS, Camilo Ospina, reported that Venezuela has two mines where it has plans extract uranium. "Venezuela has not the capacity to enrich uranium, but Iran has. If this were to happen, we will have troubles indeed," the worried former defense minister told a Colombian news program.[9]
Ten days later, President Hugo Chávez met Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Caracas airport, saying, "Welcome to Venezuela, where Iran is loved. We welcome a remarkable leader -- the leader of a heroic people and a revolution friendly to the Venezuelan revolution: the Islamic revolution." In return, Ahmadinejad said, "Greetings to all of the revolutionary people who are against world hegemony. I am sure our peoples will claim the victory."[10]
President Ahmadinejad claimed that the goal of Iran's nuclear program is to manufacture nuclear fuel. President Chávez said that the Iranian nuclear program has been "demonized" by the US government and news networks.
While in Venezuela, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed 29 treaties and contracts including one to construct a manufacturing plant of gunpowder and ammunition.
Everything about this whole situation leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth that isn't going to be cured with a cup of coffee from 7-11.
Mr. Chavez, you can keep your oil. Until you are out of office, I'm not going to buy another gallon of Citgo gas.
 

[1] http://www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO/CompanyHistory.jsp, Venezuela owns Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. which in turn owns Citgo.

[2] President Chavez's Speech to the United Nations, CQ Transcripts Wire, September 20, 2006, Congressional Quarterly Inc.

[3] Mr. Chomsky was perhaps one of the few people in the United States who appreciated Mr. Chavez' remarks. He ought to: with Chavez' recommendation his book had jumped from #20,664 to #1 on Amazon.com, and from #748 to #3 at Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/books/all/ref=sv_b_2/104-3174031-2557547?%5Fencoding=UTF8; and see, also http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060921-1341-books-chomsky.html

[5] "2006 Elections to the Human Rights Council: Background information on candidate countries" 1 May 2006 http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGIOR410062006?open&of=ENG-VEN

[6] Haggman, Matthew "Suing Hugo Chavez: Miami lawyer sues Venezuelan president in federal court over shooting deaths last year during Caracas protests" Daily Business Review, July 11, 2003,
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1056139974401

[7]"Human Rights Overview: Venezuela," Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/venezu12258.htm

[8] President Chavez's Speech to the United Nations Friday, Sep 16, 2005 http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1555

[9] "Colombian Ambassador to the OAS Suspects that Venezuela Extracts Uranium", Petroleumworld, CARACAS, Petroleumworld.com, September 12, 2006.

[10] "Venezuela, Iran, Initial 29 Accords," El Universal.com Caracas, Friday September 22 , 2006   http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/09/22/en_pol_art_22A780817.shtml