First, the Venezuelan government is making a big deal out of deliveries of cheap heating oil to poor families in the US, supplied by Citgo in response to a plea by former Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy. According to this AP story:

In a TV commercial, former Rep. Joseph Kennedy stands aboard an oil tanker moving across the Boston skyline and promises that millions of gallons of discounted heating oil are on their way to poor, shivering families, courtesy of "our good friends in Venezuela."

What he doesn't mention is that those "good friends" include Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist and staunch U.S. critic who famously called President Bush "the devil" in a speech last year at the United Nations.

The reference to Venezuela has led to accusations that Kennedy is a shill for Chavez.

If Citgo is providing cheap oil, it may be maintaining its overall margins by eliminating the low prices enjoyed by some drivers. I don't know if Citgo is cheaper elsewhere, only what I've seen at one station in one area -- other Citgos around here don't seem lower than competitors. Adding a few cents on Main Street could balance the lower prices elsewhere.

The second, also speculative reason brings in the big picture of the Venezuelan economy. Despite all the oil wealth, the crippling effects of a command economy are starting to bite hard. Not that El Lider Maximo Hugo Chavez would acknowledge his role in the mess, according to this Houston Chronicle story:

Despite its status as Latin America's fastest-growing economy, Venezuela faces shortages of basic foods. Beef, chicken, sugar, milk and coffee mysteriously have disappeared from supermarket shelves for weeks, sometimes months.

The scarcities come at a crucial juncture for President Hugo Chavez. A fierce critic of unbridled capitalism, Chavez is moving the country toward socialism and stepping up state control over the economy. Yet many critics blame his price controls and other government meddling for the shortages.

"The biggest lesson in all this is that you can't manage the economy by government decree," said Noel Alvarez, president of the Venezuelan Council on Commerce and Services.

Not so, argues Chavez, who claims that speculators are stockpiling food to create artificial shortages and drive up prices. That's why, he says, that even when supermarket shelves are bare, sugar, flour and beans are readily available on the black market.

The same cycle, the same dictatorial outrage, has played itself out over and over again. The Bolsheviks faced this, as has every other command-economy devotee. As the Venezuelan economy bends and cracks, the higher Citgo prices could reflect an urgent need to scrape up a few more pennies on the gallon to paper over the dislocations.

That won't work. Chavez has started down the road to Lenin's war communism, with coercion and repression increasing as the economy refuses to move in the direction Chavez demands. The tracks run in one direction only -- off the cliff.