So how much influence does Hugo Chavez have over America. Today, US Today posed that very question in an exploration of the country's oil influence. Chavez, an avowed, anti-American socialist revolutionary, has frequently threatened to cut off Venezuelan oil to the United States in the event of a showdown with that country. Venezuela is one of the largest oil exporters and a principle source of oil for the US. In reality these conflicts between the US and Venezuela are mostly a figment of Chavez’s imagination. Nonetheless, the stranglehold Chavez has over our economy is very much real, not imagined.

The Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., and by extension President Chavez, owns Citgo, one of America’s largest refiners of petroleum. As USA Today pointed out, the significant spike in gas prices after Hurricane Katrina, demonstrates the comparative weakness of the US economy, when only a fraction of our refining capacity is threatened. Citgo, on the other hand, controls 6% of US refining capacity. With a company like Citgo, whose leadership is openly hostile to the United States, the company could very conceivably be used as a weapon against America, a weapon to which the US would be extremely vulnerable.

Its debatable whether or not Chavez would use such a weapon, after all, revenues from gas sales are what keep Chavez and his political supporters in power, Chavez therefore is unlikely to threaten such a gravy train, but the possibility does exist. This precarious relationship also highlights the increasingly untenable position of the US with regard to our energy policy, or lack thereof. Sadly both political parties continue to bury their head in the sand. Republicans insist only in drilling for oil domestically. While drilling for oil, would certainly help to relieve some dependence on foreign oil, it would not eliminate that dependence and it would only serve as a stopgap measure. America’s insatiable need for energy requires a more radical approach. While the GOP stays true to their call for increased domestic drilling, the Democrats offer no solutions at all, only to oppose Republican proposals, which symbolizes their self-destructive policies.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2006-01-11-citgo-cover-usat_x.htm