Chávez's oil largesse winning fans abroad

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone (right) appears at a press conference with Nicolas Maduro, Venezeulan Minister of the Popular Power for Foreign Affairs, in London on Feb. 20. Livingstone signed a deal with a Venezuelan oil company aimed at saving millions of pounds on fuel costs for London's bus fleet.

London is the latest city to get a fuel deal as part of the Venezuelan leader's '21st century socialism.'
By Sara Miller Llana and Mark Rice-Oxley
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MEXICO CITY AND LONDON - The London bus has come to symbolize many things over the years. It's a national icon, a picture postcard paragon of public transport, a byword for frustration and irregularity.

But a harbinger of international socialism? Far-fetched perhaps, but less so after the latest move by Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez to offer cut-rate fuel so that 250,000 Londoners on welfare can travel half-price throughout one of the world's most expensive cities.

The double-decker trademark isn't the only trace of Mr. Chávez's so-called "21st century socialism:" For the past year residents in New York, Boston, and other major US cities have scored cheaper heating bills, thanks to Venezuela. Chávez has also sent cheap oil to Cuba, Nicaragua, and more than a dozen other countries.

His offerings go beyond oil and have been announced with particular frenzy since he won a third term in December, promising $500 million in financing for Ecuador, $135 million for a dairy cooperative in Argentina, and a development plan in Nicaragua that includes generators to ease blackouts as well as a new development bank.

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