Hugo Chavez, demagogue strongman of Venezuela, is thumbing his nose at the Bush Administration and U.S. oil companies by working a "deal" to provide discounted oil (for heating, etc.) to the poor of Massachusetts. Citgo Corp. is wholly owned by Petroleos de Venezuela SA, and is the outlet providing this aid to the state of Kerry and Kennedy.

This "petro-diplomacy" is disingenuous at multiple levels. First, are there no poor in Venezuela that could benefit from investment from the state oil revenues? Second, why go around U.S. aid programs to work directly with two nonprofits, one of which is headed by Joseph P. Kennedy II (nephew of Edward Kennedy (D-Mass)), and just help Massachusetts consumers?

This is a cheap theatrical move, calculated to embarrass the U.S. on the world stage, as the beloved dictator (Peron/Castro echoes?) of an underdog country offers help to the poor of the most powerful nation on earth. Chavez has identified a chink in the armor of the behemoth, though. The U.S. is deeply dependent on imported oil, and now is torn between purchasing it from terror-supporting Islamic states, increasingly authoritarian Russia, and this brash, big-talking Venezuelan. Chavez has repeatedly threatened to stop shipments of oil to the U.S.

Perhaps one lesson can be learned from this, though. Do U.S. oil companies provide similar relief from high heating oil costs to America's poor? Maybe an embarrassment is just what is needed to prod them to generosity, especially when they're garnering record profits this year.