12-14-07, 9:29 am

WASHINGTON, December 12.— Venezuela continues its program to help low-income US families get through the cold winter season. This year’s heating oil donation plan began Wednesday in a poor neighborhood in the US capital, reported ANSA news service.

A total of 224,000 families in 23 states will reportedly benefit from the program backed by US $100 million.

The program is administered by the Citizens Energy non-profit organization which takes care of the logistics and processing requests to participate. CITGO, the US subsidiary of the Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA, provides the heating oil.

Citizens Energy founder Joseph P. Kennedy II was on hand Wednesday to fill the tank at the home of Sophy Hallen, a 67-year-old woman living in Anacostia, a predominantly Afro-American neighborhood in Washington D.C.

The former congressman thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for donating the fuel to poor US citizens and criticized President Bush for spending 'millions of dollars on the war' instead of helping the poor in the United States.

'We have called all the companies encouraging them to collaborate with the program and none have responded,' said Kennedy. He highlighted the case of Exxon, which last year recorded profits of US $100 billion.

This is the second year that Washington D.C. residents will benefit from the CITGO program. It all began at the end of 2005 when the US Senate called on oil corporations to donate part of their profits to the neediest so that they can heat their homes in winter.

From Diario Granma