Venezuelan Strongman Cuts Off Heating Oil to Mass. Poor

Citgo, the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, presided over by strongman Hugo Chavez, will discontinue its program of distributing heating oil to poor residents of Massachusetts, the head of Citizens Energy told the Associated Press today.

Joseph Kennedy, chairman of Citizens Energy, a Massachusetts non-profit, said Citgo told him that falling oil prices have forced it to stop the program to aid the poor, which began in 2005 and irritated the Bush administration, a foe of the Chavez regime.

Kennedy urged those who have been helped by the program to write to Chavez to share their stories, the AP reported.

-- Frank Ahrens
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