We are urging you to buy CITGO rather than ExxonMobil and other brands because CITGO money is being used by the government of Venezuela, the owner of the company, to assist low-income people in Venezuela. (www.alternet.org/envirohealth/22023/) In the fall of 2005, Venezuela provided low-cost heating oil to low-income communities in Maine, Massachusetts and New York.
In addition, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s president, who is behind the spending of oil money to reduce poverty, has advocated for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. He is also using Venezuelan oil money to assist other Latin American nations in developing independence and a more integrated Latin American economic system.
Venezuela is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter, supplying about 15 percent of U.S. oil imports.
The Chavez government has increased taxes and royalties on major oil companies with operations in Venezuela, drawing criticism most notably from ExxonMobil, which quit a project in Venezuela early in 2006 rather than accept new terms for their participation. (www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12561.htm)
There have been charges that the U.S. has sent millions of dollars to groups opposing Chavez including those who attempted a coup against him in 2002. “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” is a remarkable film by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Brien documenting the events leading up to the coup and the drama of its execution and failure as Venezuela’s military forces, prodded by massive public pressure, kept Chavez in office. (www.chavezthefilm.com)
In February, 2006, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said:
“…we’ve seen some populist leadership appealing to the masses of people in those (Latin American) countries. And elections like Evo Morales in Bolivia take place that are clearly worrisome. I mean we’ve got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money. He’s a person who was elected legally – just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally – and then consolidated power and now is, of course, working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others.”
Recent evidence of threat from the U.S. was the appointment in August 2006 of a “mission manager” for gathering intelligence on Venezuela and Cuba. According to the N.Y. Times, which reported the appointment, Iran and North Korea “are the only other countries assigned such senior intelligence managers, who are not expected to directly oversee intelligence operations or analysis but rather guide these activities on a strategic level.”
The belligerence of the U.S. has been a major factor causing Chavez to create friendly relations with Iran and Arab oil producers and China, one of the world’s
largest oil consumers.
Fallujah Says it all
FALLUJAH - In 2004 the United States destroyed Fallujah. It was a war crime and a crime against humanity. This action typifies the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. This video shows what happened, and what continues to happen daily if on a smaller scale.
Watch the video preview of
"Caught in the Crossfire".
ConsumersForPeace.org, through the ExxonMobil War Boycott, is working to stop the killing in Iraq; to end the United States' occupation of Iraq; and to bring the perpetrators of the war to justice.
To assist you in boycotting ExxonMobil and firms connected to it through its board of directors, you may wish to have Democracy Dollars.
You may wish to write to the ExxonMobil Board of Directors
