Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said yesterday at a campaign event in Florida that he has no business connections to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and that Citgo, the U.S. arm of Venezuela's national oil company, is "an American company."
Earlier this year, Texas state records revealed that Giuliani's law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, is a registered lobbyist for a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela SA. The firm registered as a Citgo lobbyist in April 2005, less than a month after Giuliani joined and became a name partner. Citgo renewed the contract for $5,000 per month in 2006 and 2007. Citgo is owned by PDV America Inc., a subsidiary of PDVSA.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has an openly hostile relationship with President Bush, describing him as a "devil" and "madman" (Greenwire, March 14).
"My firm did represent Citgo, they never represented Venezuela. They represented an American company that employs thousands and thousands of people in America. They did it honorably, they did it well. I don't believe they represent them any longer," Giuliani said at the event. "But they did represent them. And the entity they represented was an American company who has employed -- directly and indirectly -- maybe a hundred thousand people. And they represented them honorably and they represented them well."
Giuliani was asked why he kept referring to Citgo as an American company, but the questions were cut off. "The mayor does not say it is an American-owned company. He calls it an American company, which is accurate," a Giuliani campaign aide later said (Marc Santora, New York Times, June 21). -- RJD
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