Boston Mayor & residents – let’s defy Chavez!

September 23, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter 

Yes, we are mostly anti-BushCo in Massachusetts.  Yes, we love any and all traditions that are tied to our beloved Red Sox.  But this goes beyond that and I can’t understand why the majority of us don’t see the visceral appeal of a public flipping the bird at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez by taking down the venerable CITCO sign and replacing it with a US flag!  God knows, its not because we Bostonians are too civil – think of how we spew venom at the Yankees without the slightest regret or concern about how we appear to the rest of the civilized sports world.

I’m not a hypocrite – I’ve said the same things about Bush hundreds of times and part of me admires Chavez’s gall.  But I can feel that way AND! crave a defiant response.  Its like hating someone in your family but not putting up with an outsider making remarks about that family member. I have a vision of hundreds of thousands of pissed off Red Sox fans looking at the U.S. flag instead of the CITGO sign and how that could affect their next car buying decision: SUV or energy-efficient or ethanol fueled .  But if that is too much of a stretch, how about just the sweet satisfaction of collectively standing up and screaming "NO!!! – we don’t want your stinking oil!"  I’ve been craving that since 9/11 and I don’t think I’m alone. But, gas prices are down (and will likely continue to go down through election), and the oil-dependency saga continues ad nauseam. Wimpy Mayor Merino makes me miss Howard Dean and his primal scream.

Mayor: We’d hate to C-IT-GO

By Laura Crimaldi
Saturday, September 23, 2006 – Updated: 12:07 AM EST

With one of the Hub’s most beloved icons caught in the middle of the political outrage over Venezualan President Hugo Chavez’s anti-Bush rant, Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday said the famed Citgo sign deserves a break.
    “It’s a landmark in our city,” said Menino, who criticized Chavez for calling President Bush “the devil” at the United Nations on Wednesday, but doesn’t believe the neon sign in Kenmore Square has to go.
    “The only one that gets shortchanged is us” if that were to happen, Menino said.
    On Thursday, Allston-Brighton City Councilor Jerry P. McDermott filed a resolution asking the council to remove the sign and replace it with an American flag to protest Chavez’s remarks.
    Citgo Oil is a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela. McDermott said he’s hearing from people who love his proposal, as well as those who loathe it.
    “We’re getting calls from Arizona, Pittsburgh, all across Massachusetts,” he said.
    About 58 percent of Herald readers who took part in an online poll yesterday believe the sign should stay put.
    Citgo owns the sign, which sits atop a Boston University building and is visible from Fenway Park. The electricity bill is footed by the oil company, said Menino and Citgo spokesman Fernando Garay.
    A Red Sox spokesman declined to comment. Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera did not respond yesterday to a message seeking comment.

But there are people out there with cojones to be defiant.

Hugo to hell: Mihos wants to cut his gas station ties to ’thug’

By Jay Fitzgerald
Boston Herald General Economics Reporter
Saturday, September 23, 2006

The local furor over Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s “devil” comment escalated yesterday with gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos saying he may cancel the Citgo gas contracts at his minimarts on Cape Cod.
    “The guy’s just a thug,” said Mihos, who owns nine Christy’s Markets that have distributor contracts with Citgo, a subsidiary of the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela.
    Chavez’s remarks, in which he called President Bush “the devil” during a United Nations speech earlier this week, have put Mihos in a tough spot. His business dealings with Citgo make him the potential target of political criticism while his talk of canceling his Citgo contract could create the appearance of pandering for votes.
    Mihos, who’s dumping millions of dollars into his long-shot independent bid for governor, said he was outraged by Chavez’s anti-American tirade on Wednesday and is mulling what action to take.
    “We’re talking about this at Christy’s Market, whether to keep with (Citgo),” he told the Herald.
    Mihos said he’ll talk to customers at his markets to gauge their sentiments and assess further remarks by Chavez before making a decision. He said he’s most worried that Chavez might use his country’s oil exports and clout within the energy industry to hurt America.
    If he breaks his agreements with Citgo, Mihos said he’ll probably lose tens of thousands of dollars.
    “But there are more important things in life than money,” said the millionaire business owner who sold most of his Christy’s Markets in the late 1990s. He still owns 14 of them on Cape Cod – and nine of those have distributor agreements with Citgo.
    The loudmouth Chavez has stirred other trouble in Boston, with one city councilor pushing to replace the iconic Citgo sign in Kenmore Square with a giant American flag to protest Chavez’s “devil” tirade.
    Mayor Thomas M. Menino and others are trying to calm the situation, saying Boston would only be hurting itself if the giant sign was taken down.
    A spokesman for Citgo yesterday reiterated that Citgo, while technically owned by the Venezuelan government, concentrates on business, not politics.

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