Citgo is launching a new public relations campaign torevive its image. To refresh your memory, the Venezuelan government owns Citgo through PDVSA, the state-run oil company. Last month that country?s dictator, Hugo Chavez, declared President George Bush “the devil” at a United Nations meeting. He has previously called Bush a “genocidal murderer.”
Company officials say they want to “set the record straight” with the campaign. We wonder about what. Did Chavez apologize to President Bush? Did Venezuela sell Citgo? The facts remain that a dictator who denies free speech to those in his country feels quite free to criticize the United States publicly. Profits from his oil company quite literally fuel his oppressive regime and help to prop up others, including those in Cuba and Bolivia.
Buying gas from Citgo helps Chavez. No public relations campaign can change that fact. So unless you want to bankroll Chavez, buy gas elsewhere.
