Venezuela's Chávez shuts off free oil program for US poor

Richard Moffi, who administers the fuel assistance program for Vermont, said his state's residents would be without the Venezuelan-provided oil just as demand for government help is rising.

"This was a safety net we could always rely on," Mr. Moffi said. "For those who didn't qualify for other programs, we knew we could always point them to Joe 4 Oil," which served as the program's toll-free phone number.

Chávez instituted the low-income heating oil assistance program in 2005 through the help of Joseph P. Kennedy II, a former congressman and a son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy heads Citizens Energy.

Chávez won cheers when he announced during a 2006 visit to a Harlem church that he planned to expand the program.

Critics have lambasted Kennedy for taking Chávez's oil. However, he's always been unrepentant.

"Some people say it's bad politics to do this," Kennedy says in a video on Citizens Energy's Web page. "I say it's a crime against humanity not to. Because no one, no one should be left out in the cold."

Kennedy remained hopeful on Monday that the Chávez government would reinstitute the program.

He called on people to write Chávez "to tell him the stories you have told me of the difference the generous donation of heating oil has made to so many of our fellow Americans."

Mark Wolfe, the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, a Washington-based group, said Congress doubled the money available under the low-income heating oil program for 2008-09, but many people still will be cold.

"Citgo has been the only major oil company that has been willing to provide supplemental energy assistance," Mr. Wolfe said. "We're sorry they won't be able to do it this year."

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E-mail: tbridges@mcclatchydc.com

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