http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea&&sid=a3z63_HrIvtcVenezuela's Chavez Squeezes Oil Companies With Taxes, RaidsAug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- On July 14 in the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuelan government tax auditors and a prosecutor went to the offices of Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company.
They seized boxes of records to build a case that San Ramon, California-based Chevron and 21 other energy companies owe Venezuela $3 billion in back taxes. The raid is part of President Hugo Chavez's push to squeeze more money out of foreign companies that want to pump oil from the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter.
Since October 2004, he has raised heavy-oil royalty fees to as high as 30 percent from 1 percent, begun paying for some services in nonconvertible bolivares instead of U.S. dollars, and ordered oil well contracts converted into government-controlled joint ventures.
Chavez, 51, wants to use the revenue to pay for homes, clinics and schools for the 58 percent of Venezuelan families who live on less than $200 a month.
Since taking office in February 1999, Chavez has embarked on a socialist revolution: seizing ranches to hand over to the poor and starting a TV news network with promotional ads featuring a swastika painted on a U.S. flag.
Chavez says he's using oil money to bankroll a quest to become Latin America's leader against U.S.-style capitalism, and in a May 4 speech, he said ``Being rich is bad'' and
``Jesus Christ was a socialist.''