WINDHAM, Maine, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Venezuela expanded a controversial program on Thursday of subsidizing costly home-heating oil for the U.S. poor with a pact in Maine, upping the ante in a political brawl with President George W. Bush.
The donations deepen an ongoing spat between oil-rich Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bush, who calls Chavez a threat to democracy in Latin America. Socialist Chavez says Bush is trying to undermine his political support.
Venezuela, where per capita income is about 1/10th that of the United States, donated 8 million gallons (36 million litres) of heating oil at a 40 percent discount to Maine, the third northeastern U.S. state to receive what Venezuela calls its "humanitarian aid."
"This helps Chavez portray America as fundamentally weak," said Bruce Everett, a former executive with the Exxon Mobil Corp who teaches petroleum economics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
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