Chavez Makes Friends Through Cheap Oil Program; Venezuela has Been Supplying Heating Oil at a 40% Discount to Poor Americans and Free Fuel to Shelters

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STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) - The throbbing pain in Alan Francis' broken wrist worsened earlier this month when he ran out of oil to heat his home in frigid Maine.

But the 42-year-old ironworker was among a growing number of struggling Americans grateful to receive discounted heating oil from Venezuela, a country led by a man Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has likened to Hitler.

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Chavez Makes Friends Through Cheap Oil Program; Venezuela has Been Supplying Heating Oil at a 40% Discount to Poor Americans and Free Fuel to Shelters

"It felt like Christmas," said Francis, who had been blasting his oven to try to stay warm. "This extra 53 gallons was awesome."

Venezuela, the fifth-largest foreign...

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