I won't stop for the cheapest gas in my town -- and not just because I can find cheaper gass on my way to school in the morning or on my way to my night class in the evening. Since every gallon I pump here in town would be money in the pocket of Hugo Chavez, I'm willing to spend a little more to register my distaste.

And Seven-Eleven (which does not, unfortunately, operate in the Houston area -- I need a Slurpee fix) has joined the boycott.

The devil might wear Prada, but will his fellow citizens fill up their tanks with Citgo?

One retail chain won't find out. Faced with a barrage of calls from customers and bloggers calling for a boycott of Citgo gasoline stations, 7-Eleven Inc. said yesterday that the Citgo signs are going to start coming down from its convenience stores.

The boycott calls were the result of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's fiery speech at the United Nations last week in which he called President Bush "the devil." 7-Eleven said that the end of its 20-year supply agreement with Citgo Petroleum Corp., owned by the Venezuelan state oil company, was not the result of that speech but rather that it had decided in the spring to launch its own gasoline brand and switch to three new U.S. suppliers.

But the chain moved up the announcement of those plans in response to the outcry over the Chavez speech. "We sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez," 7-Eleven public relations director Margaret Chabris said in a statement that waded into the political fray. In an interview, she added: "Customers started calling last week and saying that they didn't like what Chavez said. And they wanted to know what we were going to do."

I'm glad to see a little corporate responsibility -- nd patriotism -- here. Wll done!

Posted by: Greg at 10:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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