The picture shows all the flags flying at half-staff yesterday at the entrance to CITGO Corporation’s national headquarters in Houston. This was done upon the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and was also done at CITGO facilities in Lake Charles and Corpus Christi.
Chavez was never as globally significant as he wanted to be, but he did his best to be percieved as an enemy of the United States, and a friend to the leaders of countries like Cuba, Libya and Iran.
The fact that a US corporation would honor him this way had a lot of people irate, but it is only fair to point out that CITGO is owned by Venezuela.
CITGO released a statement Wednesday which read, "President Hugo Chávez of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela leaves behind a legacy of support for the underprivileged and promotion of social justice that transcends geographical boundaries. We at CITGO Petroleum Corporation are deeply saddened by the news of his passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the people of Venezuela in this time of grief."
The flags on those poles are the banners of the United States, Venezuela, Texas and the CITGO corporate flag. Talk show calls and on-line comments would seem to indicate that more folks were incensed about lowering the Texas flag than the American one.
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