Venezuelan oil sales to American poor:
Chávez builds base with grass-roots circles in U.S.
November 21, 2005
Miami Herald
By Pablo Bachelet
WASHINGTON - Miami's Jesús Soto supports Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's vision of ''participatory democracy.'' Valerie Pusch of Chicago backs Chávez because of his policies on behalf of the poor.
And they say so loudly, as heads of their local Bolivarian Circles -- among the dozen or so U.S. copies of the groups Chávez has set up throughout his country to mobilize Venezuelans on behalf of his socialist "revolution.''
Even as Chávez attacks President Bush as his sworn nemesis, his government is running a strong campaign to curry favor with U.S. citizens through leftist grass-roots groups, paid lobbyists and public relations operatives and offers of cheap fuel for America's poor.
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Venezuelans to begin selling cheap oil to poor in Boston, New York
November 18, 2005
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela --Venezuela will soon begin selling heating oil at discount prices to poor communities in Boston and New York, following up on a promise by President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's state oil company announced.
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posted by Administrator
5 Comments:
Re: Money being better spent in Venezuela. Keep in mind that the Venezuelan government is not spending money on this per se. They are providing fuel at reduced rates by eliminating the middleman and delivering it themselves. They are not making major budget expenditures. Any oil company can do this, but alas, they've not stepped up. For obvious reasons, heating oil is not used much in Venezuela.
December 02, 2005 9:38 AM
Hi Consdemo,
You cite El National, but that paper is notoriously anti-Chavez, and it's never been an ally of Venezuela's poor, either. They only write about the poor when they think they can get a ding in against the present administration.
There is way more access to health care these days in Venezuela than in years past. It's not even comparable. Yes, there is still poverty, but now at least among the poor there is health care, education, and access to government in a way never seen before. It's not a perfect system, clearly, but it's better than in years past.
El National has always been a little crazy on this subject since the government stopped supsidizing private hospitals that only catered to the super-rich, in favor of hospitals and clinics that served everyone.
December 04, 2005 10:11 PM
Esandoval wrote: "Yes, there is still poverty, but now at least among the poor there is health care, education, and access to government in a way never seen before."
When I hear comments like this, I often wonder if these people have some sort of mental problem, are plain idiots, or are fanatics to the point that they cannot see the reality in which Venezuelans have to live every day.
There is NO health care system in Venezuela. Chavez's thugocracy has placed Cuban doctors that can deliver here and there an aspirin or some extremely basic health care. This is certainly good as a first line of defense.
However, while people like esandoval "forget" to mention is that the Venezuelan hospital system is essentially collapsed.
Anyone with a health problem that requires going to a hospital is doomed. There are no medical supplies; equipments and infrastructure are basically non-existent. People have to buy their own medicines and basic things like bandages. Norway's channel two had a segment in their news program that is really eye-opening. It can be seen at
http://www.albacom.no/images/stories/video/tv2_231005.wmv
Of course, I am expecting some Chavez apologist to come forward and say that this segment is some imperialist plot master minded by Bush.
December 05, 2005 11:37 AM
Hey peric o'verde,
I've spend lots of time in the barrios around Caracas, living and working in low-income communities. They see the health missions as a godsend. Live are being saved--this is not an aspirin service.
I think many Venezuelans of a certain class didn't really have a sense of just how hard life was for the poor majority until the Chavez administration put their needs front and center. Now there is a lot of talk in the upper classes that things MUST be worse now than before for the poor because they'd never seen the situation on TV or in the news before. Unfortunately, it was always there. It was just being systematically ignored.
There is still a long way to go of course, but the vast majority of Venezuelans wouldn't change direction.
I'm not a "Chavez apologist," but I do have a deep connection with Venezuela's poor.
December 05, 2005 2:36 PM
Howdy Consdemo,
You're right that el National does have some value. The bias in their reporting (like many papers in Venezuela and the United States) is primarily class based. Many reporters have never stepped into a poor barrio, and it's just impossible to understand what's going on among the majority of Venezuelans without a deep understanding of life in the barrios and a respect for those people. El National (like the New York Times) is written by the middle and upper classes for the middle and upper classes, and I guess that's fine. It just frustrates me that they will talk about the poor when they can use it to attack the administration, but they don't seem to write sympathetically about these people in any other context.
December 06, 2005 9:40 AM
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