Boycotting El Loco (Boycott Citgo)

Front Page Magazine ^ | October 4, 2006 | Dick Morris/Eileen McGann

[seasoned traditionalist]

Your friendly neighborhood Citgo station is really the branch office of Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez's government: The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of El Loco's state oil company. Having recognized the connection, 7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Citgo as its gasoline supplier at more than 2,100 of its stores. Here's hoping the boycott catches on.

Chavez recently called President Bush the "devil" at the United Nations; he said the lectern smelled of sulfur after Bush used it for his own speech to the General Assembly. But, more to the point, El Loco is trying meddling in elections across Latin America - hoping to create more anti-American allies.

In Nicaragua, he is backing former Sandinista dictator Daniel Ortega for president in the presidential election -- and Ortega is likely to win. In Ecuador, he's funding the presidential candidacy of Rafael Correa, the frontrunner in recent polling.

On top of all this, the government of Colombia says Chavez has been sheltering and aiding FARC -- the leftist guerillas besieging that nation in alliance with druglords.

[seasoned traditionalist]

I hope the Mods leave this post where it is, as this is important for one and all to see and hopefully, take action.

I know that since Presidente El Locco (wonderful moniker I might add for this nutcase) made his appearance at the UN, I have purposely avoided buying any gas from CITGO, though here in Virginia, it is often less expensive than many other company brands.

In light of El Locco’s recently publicized intentions to cut production as the costs have decreased, I think it only proper that we do our part to decrease our consumption (TO ZERO) of any and all CITGO products.

Of concern, is my having heard on talk radio a couple of weeks ago from someone who claimed to be in the Navy that he traveled considerably and that EVERY base he went to in the US, there were only CITGO gas stations serving our Naval Military.

Can anyone verify this? If so, then we should be making our displeasure known to The Donald (not Trump, but Rumsfeld) and “suggest” that DOD find another supplier?

Moreover, this Sailor claimed that the prices they paid on the bases were not any less than they paid off base, which surprised me as when I was in the AF, the cost of gas on base was always less than on the economy.

Regardless, we can all do our part as well as spread the word, and thru our actions, we can show our “displeasure” with the policies of this Anti-American, Socialist, Wingnut, and while this may have some impact on the livelihood of those who work for or have relationships with, CITGO, I’m of the mindset of that old axiom: (para) “If you lay with dogs, you can expect to get some fleas.”

[bmwcyle]

I been doing this for as long as I have been driving and that was 1970.

[stuartcr]

You should contact the US Navy, as every base here in Tidewater has Citgo stations exclusively, and they are anywhere from 5-20 cents cheaper than offbase.

[seasoned traditionalist]

I been doing this for as long as I have been driving and that was 1970

Kudos, my friend.

I've been driving since 59 and like all good middle class "Capitalists," have usually frequented the stations which offered the best deals, with little regards to who they were or who owned them.

I'm curious: "What did you know as far back as then, and when did you learn it?" lol

All kidding aside, most of us (myself included) have only recently begun paying any attention (and learned that CITGO was a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela) with the increased Anti-American, pro-Communist, pro-Terrorists, antics and activities of Chavez.

You apparently, have us all beat.

[seasoned traditionalist]

"You should contact the US Navy, as every base here in Tidewater has Citgo stations exclusively, and they are anywhere from 5-20 cents cheaper than offbase"

Thanks. Apparently this Navy person was mistaken.

That's why I threw that out for verification and knew that I'd get it here.

If that's the case, will probably get some "reluctance" to make any changes, UNLESS, it can be shown (which would be even more damaging, but not surprising) that the DOD/Navy is subsidizing the costs of gas, in which case, then there would be no reason for them to do the same with another supplier/brand?

[Vaquero]

Do you smell the sulfur????

Oh wait, thats just stanky Chavez releasing noxious gasses at the UN!

[bmwcyle]

The gas is crap. I don't get gas at stations were I might get water, clay, or dirt pumped into my car. I pay a little more but my engine does not knock from cheep gas. I bought cheep gas once for my motorcycle in Utah once (it was the only one for miles, I didn't fill up in CO). I have to have the carburetors rebuilt after that stop.

[Dixie Yooper]

This is kind of like "trade sanctions" but even dumber. The Innocent victims will be Americans. Boycotting a company this size that is operating in the US is equivalent to cutting of your nose to spite your face. Citgo employees thousands of "legal citizens" across the country. And as far as not using their product, we will have to use someone else's which will in effect cause India or China to buy any oil we aren't buying from Hugo. All oil is traded all over the world. Unless we find a way to completely do with out oil, Hugo will prosper from having it. We only have to ship Hugo's oil across the Gulf.

[libertylover]

I've been avoiding Citgo since I found out it was owned by El Loco.

You might not have heard that there are Citgo stations on the Florida Turnpike, but a state Republican is working to fix that problem.

[bmwcyle]

It is good to buy ExxonMobile before they are owned by some other country.

[Vaquero]

All gasoline in my area comes from the Northville refinery/ depot. And except for companies that put in their proprietary additives and such, it is all the same. The stations are all privately owned (all by Muzzies it would seem) and the Citco banner at the closest station to my house is a franchise. The gas does not necessarily come from Chavez's worker paradise and the station is not owned by the Venezuela dictatorship.

I did buy there before it was made known to me that it was a communist front gas station, and the gas worked well in my 5 cars and my 200hp Evenrude...never a problem....

BUT
I do not buy there as a percentage of the profits have to go to Chavez and I will travel a bit to a cheaper gas station rather than put one red cent into his coffers.

[D-fendr]

Employees of El Loco are not innocent, unless they have no idea who their owner is.

If Citgo products lose, other company's products will win. Creating jobs for those who used to work for El Loco.

Some jobs are just not worth it.

[soccer_maniac]

[seasoned traditionalist]

" The Innocent victims will be Americans. Boycotting a company this size that is operating in the US is equivalent to cutting of your nose to spite your face."

You may be absolutely right, but it is MY nose and MY face and if I choose to "cut it off," then so be it.

As far as the "innocent victims," I alluded to them in my Post and while I have pity for them, a person's got to do, what they have to do and if we are to worry about the consequences, then we would all be paralyzed in our daily inter-actions for fear that the outcomes might be affecting someone or something.

I am well aware of the fungibility of petroleum products, however, as most of Venezuelan oil is sold to the US, a boycott of CITGO, must necessarily send a signal (at least figuratively, if not literally) to the this madman that we will NOT support his dictatorial regime with its policies by buying his oil/gas.

[thelastvirgil]

So, in your scenario, all the major brands and all the independents have their own terminals where only their tankers haul their particular brand to only their company-owned or franchised retail outlets? Ain't hapnin', my FRiend; these gasoline terminals are scattered all over the country, and everyone's tankers are welcome. There isn't any difference in the product at any given terminal. In other words, an Exxon/Mobil terminal could provide gasoline to any or all of their major competitors and many independents on any given day. Next time you see a tanker unloading at any retail outlet, follow it to the terminal, see who else's tankers are in line, and inquire as to the ownership of the terminal. This boycotting of Citgo sounds like it was hatched by some tofu-farting tree-hugger or someone equally as brilliant.

[Warren_Piece]

BTW, this is starting to work. Yesterday, I heard a radio ad for Citgo that was a "look at all the good we do in the community" type ad. They weren't running them before.

[bmwcyle]

I still won't buy Cito. Thank God 7/11 is stopping also.

[RoadTest]

Chavez could just be nicknamed "El Loco".

[samtheman]

I hate when they call for boycotts of things I'm already boycotting. I feel so helpless.

[#1CTYankee]

This is a total waste of time, Hugo would have no problem selling his gas elsewhere. CITGO employs 14,000 people nationwide, what good will it do to create economic hardship for these individuals.

All of this is probably irrelevant since the loony left is encouraging their own to buy CITGO as a way to protest the "Bush foreign policy"

I'm through even commenting of these Boycott CITGO threads, (Of which there has been no less than ten Since Sept 20th) IMO they are simply a waste of bandwidth.