Seriously this is not a boycott on gasoline in general but on one statation. No other company that I can think of is owned by the government of our know enemy and its revenue given to our enemy. Does it just show how we can not kick our addiction to gas.
2007-09-26 19:02:14 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
If Chavez is not benifiting from Citgo, then where is he getting his funds from. How is Cuba all of a sudden back to pre soviet levels when it comes to gas and oil. How is most of Latin America under socialist regimes.
2007-09-26 19:16:42 · update #1
Who is our enemy that Citgo is owned by?
2007-09-26 19:04:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its very hard to organize a boycott of a gas company.
First, most stations are not owned by the gas company but by local dealers. They merely have an exclusive contract with that company.
Second, while the stations have exclusive contracts with the company, the opposite is not true. A gas company can sell its product to non-branded stations.
Third, for brand-name stations, there are a very substantial number of stations around the country. Organizing national boycotts is not easy to do in a country as individualistic as ours. A boycott that hits only a tiny percentage of stations would be a minor nuisance.
Fourth, any foreign governments that have an interest in an oil company is merely one of several shareholders.
Fifth, even if the U.S. stopped buying all gas from Citgo, the gas would just be sold overseas for roughly the same price. There is only so much gas to go around the world market and if we get gas from other sources than Citgo, the people that used to buy gas from those sources would have to turn to Citgo to make up for the shortfall.
2007-09-26 19:12:24 · answer #2 · answered by Tmess2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gas stations are franchises, owned mostly by small business-owners. You would not be hurting Citgo or the government of Venezuela. Oil is a very fungiable commodity that can easily be shifted to other markets in order to avoid losses. You would only be hurting the gas station owner.
Known enemy? Hugo Chavez is a democratically elected leader. Yes, he has campaigned for and succeded in changing his country's constitution, but he did so in a referendum with the support of 72% of his people and the changes were not undemocratic: changed the presidential term from 5 to 6 years and from a bicameral (like the US) to a unicameral legislature (like Utah). He has spoken out against the Bush administration for good reason: he has, and many of us do, good reason to believe it was involved in the 2002 attempted coup against him.
2007-09-26 19:17:27 · answer #3 · answered by Jack P 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They import gas here. They pay taxes here. They obey the law. They pay their people. They're based in Houston. What else would you like?
They're owned by the state oil company in Venezuela, the government of which has been lately taken over by one Hugo Chavez, professional nutcase. But he doesn't run the state oil company, which is vastly more powerful than he is, and he knows it. That's why the company's relationship with the US hasn't been affected by Mr Chavez, nor has our government had anything much to say about it.
2007-09-26 19:12:57 · answer #4 · answered by 2n2222 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Irrelevant. Oil is what is called a 'fungible commodity.' That means that there is one world price of oil, and any oil you use affects that world price no matter where you get it from. It's like trying to drain one side of a lake without lowering the level of the other side. That's not how it works. So, a boycott would be pointless unless you actually reduced your consumption of gasoline.
2007-09-26 19:05:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Citgo sucks and they should be American owned, but unfortunately their not.
Venezuela gets rich and the U.S. doesn't
There' alot of controversy with Citgo when the U.S. only gets 6% or less.
2007-09-26 19:08:17 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋