Bridge over troubled oil?

Sometimes, I am not cynical enough. When I wrote about Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez’s publicity stunt (supplying discount oil to “help America’s poor”) earlier, I wasn’t quite getting the entire picture, and I overlooked a key player. Today’s Inquirer, however, was nice enough to supply a clear picture — showing five faces beaming in “celebration” of the Chavez propaganda coup. The caption:

Celebrating the heating oil shipment in West Oak Lane were (from left) home owner Geraldine Shields, Felix Rodriguez of Citgo, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy 2d, and Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez.

Here’s more from the story:

As a small crowd waved U.S. and Venezuelan flags, a clutch of politicians and officials gathered on Shields’ lawn to celebrate the deal, brokered by U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa) and a nonprofit energy cooperative.
Standing with Citgo chief executive officer Felix Rodriguez and Venezuela’s ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez, Fattah called the program “a humanitarian gesture of extraordinary magnitude.”
As part of the event, an oil truck rumbled up to Shields’ house, and out stepped former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy 2d (D., Mass). He is now president of Citizens Energy Corp., the nonprofit group financing the shipment.

Huh? A Kennedy stepping out of an oil truck in Philadelphia and beaming for a publicity photograph?
What’s going on?
If this report is correct (on a similar Chavez stunt in Massachusetts), former Congressman Kennedy has ample financial reason to celebrate:

The CEC [Citizens Energy Corp.] operates as a non-profit corporation but despite Kennedy?s personal wealth, which is reported to be in the millions of dollars, he receives compensation from his charitable endeavor of $400,000 a year based on CEC financial reports from 2003 (the last year upon which such reports were available).
The primary purpose of this deal is not to help the poor of Massachusetts but to create a much needed public relations coup for the tyrannical Chavez, thereby undermining public support for the Bush Administration?s efforts to, peacefully, bring about much needed reforms in Venezuela. Furthermore, it is clear that the executives of CEC, with their six- figure compensation packages, will benefit directly from the ability to purchase oil at below-market rates, from a nation that has directly supported terrorism and is presently working to destabilize democracy in South America.
Hugo Chavez has supported communist terrorists in Colombia, opposed free-trade agreements with neighboring countries, and referred to Saddam Hussein as “my brother”. After the United States was attacked on September 11th, Chavez demonstrated his sympathy by stating, “The United States brought the attacks upon itself, for their arrogant imperialist foreign policy.” Chavez has also been accused by a high ranking military defector from Venezuela, of transferring one million dollars to Osama bin Laden. As a direct result of this financial aid to Al Qaeda, the citizen?s action organization “Judicial Watch” has filed a $100 million dollar lawsuit against Hugo Chavez on behalf of the victims and survivors of September 11. The lawsuit alleges that Chavez provided material financial support and other assistance to the Al Qaeda terror network. In addition, Al Qaeda is reportedly to be presently operating a training camp on the Venezuelan island of Margarita.
Ironically, the vast financial power that Chavez welds, and uses, to support international terrorism abroad and political oppression within comes directly from his business dealings with United States oil traders such as Joe Kennedy. While Kennedy may be a small player in enriching Chavez and his anti-United States agenda, the people of the United States have become unwitting supporters of Chavez at the gas pumps.

Hey, I wouldn’t mind being a small player at 400K a year! I mean, if you come from a millionaire family and you want to help the poor, every little bit helps.
I’ll let Tim Worstall have the last word on the Kennedy-Chavez op:

A nice piece of political theatre for Chavez, of course. But that?s however many millions of $ that the poor Venezuelans are giving to the vastly richer Americans. Not really, on the face of it, a clever thing to do.
Joe Kennedy, the chairman of Citizens Energy, one of the organisations that will distribute the oil,
Ah, knew there had to be a Kennedy in something this stupid.

A Kennedy? But why Philadelphia? I hope none of this has to do with Chaka Fattah positioning himself to run for Mayor of Philadelphia.
How can I be so cynical? After all, aren’t these dictators and millionaires only trying help the poor?


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One response to “Bridge over troubled oil?”

  1. Philadelphia Will Do Avatar

    No blood for oil

    Okay, I touched on this last week, but I don’t think I really expressed the sheer awesomeness of it: Low-income families are getting cheap oil from a crazy man who hates President Bush. (Is it a rule that all…