Delray Beach lawmaker angry with Chavez wants Citgo off Florida's Turnpike

Anyone having any knowledge of how the gas station business operates here in the US would know that any boycott of Citgo stations in the US would not affect the Burro from Caracas, since they are independently owned; rather, they would only affect American business men. Yet there are those who want to score political points. If you want to get at Hugo, the answer is to stop buying his oil, and to conserve and explore for new domestic sources so we don't have to buy from him. In any event, here is the latest on the Hugo backlash:

The Associated Press reports:

A state legislator wants Citgo, Venezuela's government-owned oil company, kicked off Florida's Turnpike in retaliation for comments that county's leader made about President Bush at the United Nations last week.

Angry that Venezuela President Hugo Chavez called Bush “the devil” and a “spokesman of imperialism,” Rep. Adam Hasner wrote a letter to Florida Department of transportation Secretary Denver Stutler asking whether the state could cancel Citgo's exclusive contract to sell fuel at turnpike service stations.

Hasner, R-Delray Beach, also sent a copy to the President's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“We must send a clear message to Chavez, and the current government of Venezuela, that the state of Florida and our citizens will not support institutions that seek the destabilization of America and our institutions and freedoms,” Hasner wrote.

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