as they found out he was involved, along with Joseph F. Kennedy II in arranging deeply discounted Venezuelan heating oil to Massachusetts limited income constituents since 2005!
Jailed US filmmaker freed in Venezuela, expelled
Associated Press
Posted on June 5, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Updated today at 1:05 PM
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A U.S. filmmaker jailed for alleged espionage in Venezuela was expelled from the country and returning to the United States on Wednesday in a gesture that could signal a thaw in tense relations between the two countries.
Timothy Tracy's release was secured with the help of former U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, who has long worked to improve often strained U.S.-Venezuelan ties and was hired by Tracy's family as an attorney in the case.
"He's been informally advising us since pretty much the onset and we retained him last week," Tracy's sister, Tiffany Klaasen, said of Delahunt, a member of the U.S. delegation at the March funeral of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Both she and Delahunt also credited the U.S. State Department.
Tracy's expulsion came just as Secretary of State John Kerry was to meet with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua on the sidelines of a regional summit in Guatemala to discuss strained relations between the two countries, which have been without ambassadors since 2010.
Delahunt acknowledged the coincidence of Tracy's release but said "no conditions" were set by Kerry for the meeting with Jaua.
He said he had intervened on Tracy's behalf with officials in Venezuela — who he said did not include President Nicolas Maduro — but "I want to keep those discussions private."
"On both sides there is a desire to have an improvement in the relationship based upon respect, and that's what's important," Delahunt said, suggesting it might help that Kerry, then a Massachusetts senator, met Maduro a decade ago when Delahunt took a delegation of Venezuelans including Maduro on a trip to his district in Cape Cod.
More:
http://www.khou.com/news/world/210225701.html
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William Delahunt, Joseph F. Kennedy II, Jr. formally accept Venezuelan winter heating oil,
from CITGO representative, Felix Rodriguez, initiating a needed assistance program for constituents. [/center]
Venezuela-CITGO Assists Massachusetts with Heating Oil; Plans for Targeted Programs in Other U.S. Cities
Boston, MA – As promised by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, CITGO joined today with the U.S. Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation such as U.S. Representatives Bill Delahunt and Joseph P. Kennedy II, local energy companies and low-income communities to launch the first of what will be a targeted program of heating oil assistance in Boston, New York and possibly other U.S. cities.
This humanitarian aid will serve over 40,000 low-income households in the state of Massachusetts as well as several hundred institutions such as hospitals, day care centers, homeless shelters and schools.
“CITGO is not just another oil company. With Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), of which we are a subsidiary, we share a broad social mission,” said CITGO C.E.O Felix Rodriguez. “We are thankful to have found a partner in Massachusetts Representative Bill Delahunt, who helped build the arrangement with Citizens Energy Corporation and the MassEnergy Consumers Alliance that made this project a reality.”
This humanitarian program by Venezuela and Venezuelan-owned CITGO is a response to the emergency caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which has resulted in fuel shortages and high prices. This humanitarian aid will provide 12 million gallons of heavily discounted heating oil for distribution to low-income communities across the state. Consumers will save between 60-80 cents/gallon, for a total savings of $10-14 million this winter. Venezuela supplies virtually all of the oil used for heating in the United States.
The official launch took place at the home of Linda and Paul Kelly, who qualify as recipients of the program and will be served by Citizens Energy Corporation. Rep. Delahunt, who is the leading Democrat on the House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and Rep. Edward Markey, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, helped deliver the first load of fuel oil to the Kellys.
More:
http://www.embavenez-us.org/news.php?nid=2093
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Venezuela to expand cut-rate home heating oil to U.S.
By Andrew Miga
Associated Press
WASHINGTON --Venezuela will expand its discounted oil program for poor New Englanders next winter under a politically sensitive new deal brokered by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., and former Massachusetts congressman Joseph Kennedy. The flow of additional cut-rate oil to the Northeast and other states would be a boon to low-income families as energy prices continue to soar.
"It will be a considerable expansion," said Delahunt, of Quincy, on Tuesday. He helped to broker the original deal with Venezuela to bring cut-rate oil to needy Americans this past winter. Chavez also agreed to steer aid towards redeveloping poor U.S. neighborhoods and similar projects as part of a new social fund, Delahunt added, but the Venezuelan leader did not elaborate. Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, had discount heating oil programs last winter in Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware and the Philadelphia area. Citgo last winter provided nearly 40 million gallons of discounted oil for some 181,000 households and hundreds of homeless shelters, according to the company.
But the new arrangement is also likely to stoke controversy since Chavez is one of President Bush's harshest critics. Relations between the two nations are tense. Some Republicans have complained the oil program is more about scoring political points than charity for Chavez. "A hidden agenda? You people know we don't have one," Chavez said Monday in Venezuela. The Democratic congressman also dismissed such criticisms. "Let's not continue to indulge in sandbox diplomacy," Delahunt said. "Let's try to tamp down the rhetoric."
Chavez agreed to make more cheaper oil available during a two-hour meeting on Monday in Venezuela, Delahunt said, but no details were provided on how much. "He committed to an expansion both in terms of the gallons as well as the geographic," said Delahunt of Chavez. "I'm looking at the news and there is $3.50 per gallon gas. Now is the time to do it." U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., also participated in the session with Chavez, said Delahunt. Kennedy heads the Boston-based nonprofit Citizens Energy Corp., which helped deliver the oil in seven of the eight states the program served. "This is a moment for other oil companies to emulate what Citgo is doing," Delahunt said. "You can just imagine what their profits will look like at the end of this quarter. Now is the time for Big Oil to stand up and do it."
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_262.cfm
Venezuela donates more heating oil to U.S. poor
Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:46 PM ET
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By Jason Szep
WINDHAM, Maine, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Venezuela expanded a controversial program on Thursday of subsidizing costly home-heating oil for the U.S. poor with a pact in Maine, upping the ante in a political brawl with President George W. Bush.
The donations deepen an ongoing spat between oil-rich Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bush, who calls Chavez a threat to democracy in Latin America. Socialist Chavez says Bush is trying to undermine his political support.
Venezuela, where per capita income is about 1/10th that of the United States, donated 8 million gallons (36 million litres) of heating oil at a 40 percent discount to Maine, the third northeastern U.S. state to receive what Venezuela calls its "humanitarian aid."
"This helps Chavez portray America as fundamentally weak," said Bruce Everett, a former executive with the Exxon Mobil Corp who teaches petroleum economics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
More:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/general/355895/venezuela_donates_more_heating_oil_to_us_poor/
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