Venezuelan President Gives Heating Aid to U.S. Poor
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SharePosted on Feb 15, 2013
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. |
As many as 400,000 Americans suffering from a 25 percent cut in the government’s home heating assistance program will stay warm this winter thanks to a 100 gallon donation of heating oil each from Venezuelan officials.
The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program will lose $1.2 billion this year, reducing its total budget to $3.47 billion. The Obama administration initially wanted to cut funding to $2.5 billion. In 2011, 8.3 million Americans were helped by the program, though some were left out.
According to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, 90 percent of families participating in the program have at least one “vulnerable” member, defined as elderly, disabled or under 18, Policymic reports. The cost of heating oil has hit a 22-year high at $3.93 a gallon, up 57 cents from last year.
More than 200 U.S. homeless shelters are also slated to receive assistance from the Venezuelan government.
–Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Policymic:
Venezuela’s generosity towards its northern neighbor began in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the Gulf Coast, when Citgo donated $1 million to disaster relief and President Hugo Chavez offered to send food, water, fuel, and other humanitarian assistance. Chavez was not taken up on his offer by the U.S. administration. That same year, in response to a call by 12 U.S. Senators for oil companies and oil producing nations to donate heating oil to help ease the pain of high prices caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Venezuela rose to the occasion once again. Despite criticism from the American government, the program has continued each winter since.
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