Le pétrole de Chavez est subversif, c’est bien connu

On sait que Chavez, petit malin, a lancé un programme d’aide économique aux “pauvres” de la grande puissance nommée USA. Ce programme consiste notamment en des fournitures à prix très réduits de pétrole vénézuélien. Chavez avait déjà offert une aide (don de pétrole) à des victimes de Katrina. Depuis le programme a été mis sur pied et lancé. (Les précisions sont données par un article publié sur le site du New Standard et repris par le site Venezuelanalysis.com.) « Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the first of Venezuela's “oil-for-the-poor” programs in the US was launched. [Venezuelan oil company] Citgo struck a deal with three nonprofit organizations in the Bronx to deliver 5 million gallons of heating oil at 45 percent below the market price. The deal will amount to a savings of $4 million for the 8,000 low-income households slated to benefit from the plan.

» Citgo has made a similar arrangement with Citizens Energy Corp. in Boston for the sale and distribution of 12 million gallons, saving low-income and elderly residents there a total of $10 million. The company's website says that it expects to expand the program to other boroughs in New York City and that it is exploring the possibility of offering discounted fuel to residents in Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. »

Mais le cas qui nous arrête ici est celui de Chicago. L’article cité rapporte que la porte-parole de la CTA (Chicago Transit Authority), qui a reçu l’offre vénézuélienne (du pétrole à 40-50% moins cher à condition qu’il aille à des pauvres), a annoncé que cette organisation ne donnait pas suite. Cette position est d’autant plus surprenante que le budget de Chicago est en grave crise, au point où les transports en commun vont être augmentés de 25%, mettant ces mêmes “pauvres” dans des situations très délicates. («  Linda Cox, works a minimum-wage job and has been a Public Aid recipient for 15 years. She also relies heavily on public transportation. “I only earn $560 a month and of that, over $200 a month goes to my bus fare,” Cox told The NewStandard. “I have a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old who also need to get to school. If they change the prices and take away transfers, there are going to be a lot of days missed. I already see no money at the end of the month.” »)

Et maintenant, l’explication. CTA dépend des subsides du gouvernement fédéral, au contraire des organisations privées qui interviennent dans les autres marchés. Que s’est-il passé? Qu’a fait le gouvernement fédéral? Détails de l’explication : « Another difference between the Chicago offer and the programs enacted in the Northeast is that Citgo proposed to work with a government agency, rather than nonprofit organizations. The CTA relies on the US federal government – which is in a constant war of words with Venezuelan President Chavez – for much of its funding. In fact, just weeks after Citgo made its offer to the CTA, Congress signed the Federal Transportation Appropriations bill, allocating $89 million in infrastructure project funds the CTA had been seeking for years.

» Representatives from the US State Department and city officials, including Aldermen involved in the negotiations and the Chicago Mayor's Office, refused to respond to queries about whether international politics played any part in the CTA's rejection of Citgo's offer. »

Mis en ligne le 30 décembre 2005 à 18H11