INDIAN ISLAND – Representatives of Maine’s Indian tribes, part of a delegation of more than 60 Americans who recently visited Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, expressed gratitude for the South American leader’s consideration of poor people beyond his country’s borders.

In the contracts signed in January at Indian Island, the U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum Corp., the national petroleum company of Venezuela, agreed to sell discounted oil to the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes in Maine.

The trip to Venezuela to discuss the deal on discounted heating oil Chavez facilitated earlier this year was spur-of-the-moment after a similar delegation met earlier this month in New York to discuss the oil deal, how it worked, and make suggestions for the future.

“People wanted the opportunity to go to Venezuela, thank Chavez and request that it continue,” Eric Wingerter of the Venezuela Information Office in Washington, D.C., said Thursday.

Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez was at the New York gathering and called Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.

“The president was immediately excited about it,” Wingerter said, noting that the trip was arranged within two weeks to conform with Chavez’s busy schedule.

During the meeting last weekend with Americans from New York, Vermont and other Northeastern states, Chavez announced that he intends to continue the program, but wants to make some changes that the tribal delegation in Maine is pleased with, according to Penobscot Indian Chief James Sappier.

Chavez, a fierce critic of President Bush, insists the U.S. government has systematically sought ways to overthrow him in order to seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. U.S. officials have denied that and accuse the Cuban-allied Chavez of posing a threat to democracies in the region.

Sappier said he didn’t see that the U.S. government is at odds with Venezuela because there were U.S. members of Congress who participated in the visit, and U.S. cities that praise the heating oil program.

“Visiting the country was really to thank the president for what he’s done for poor people; I don’t see any problem with that whatsoever,” Sappier said. “I have seen tribes that are at odds with their state governors but do some very good things together.”

Five members of the Penobscot Indian Nation, including Sappier, attended the Venezuelan meeting to thank Chavez personally for his generosity and to talk about the future of the deal. Representatives from Maine’s Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Micmac tribes also attended, as well as program participants from Portland.

“[Maliseet Indian Chief] Brenda Commander and I gave [Chavez] a medicine stick and explained the medicine stick,” Sappier said. “He seemed to be very interested in spirituality.”

The Penobscot chief said that when he presented the hand-carved, traditional medicine stick, the entire crowd of about 4,000 people who were attending a town meeting-type event with the Venezuelan leader grew silent.

“The whole place went quiet. Four thousand people just, bang, stopped in their tracks,” Sappier said. “We said a prayer together, and everybody stood up. He held that stick right up. It was just remarkable, I thought.”

Sappier also presented Chavez with an eagle feather, a sacred symbol to the Penobscots.

“I went right up to him and shook his hand and invited him to come to Maine,” Michael Sockalexis, the Penobscot Nation tribal representative to the Legislature, said Thursday.

Sappier said the concept of socialism and responsibility was present throughout the visit, which was paid for by Citgo.

“Socialism there is actually helping people who need help,” Sappier said.

The idea of socialism is why Citgo and not other privately owned oil companies became involved in the project at the request of the U.S. Congress.

“I know Americans are skeptical and say, ‘What’s the motive?'” Wingerter said. “Citgo has traditionally benefited greatly from the U.S. It’s their way of giving back.”

Under Chavez, Wingerter said, the country has adopted a new sense of social responsibility.

“But it’s not just about Chavez,” Wingerter said. “It’s about a social renewal that’s going on throughout Latin America.”

Chavez announced during the Americans’ visit that he intends to continue the program that provides oil to low-income people at a 40 percent discount, but would like to implement some changes.

“Next year, the structure will stay the same, but of that 40 percent paid by recipients, half of it is going to be returned to the communities,” Wingerter said.

Based on community needs, the money will be used for a variety of things from literacy education to health care.

The system is one that has worked well in Venezuela, where unemployment has been high because the country’s entire economy is based on oil.

“In an attempt to diversify the market, a lot of communities in Venezuela are organizing into cooperatives,” Wingerter said.

Because the co-ops are worker-owned, the employees are sharing in the profits. The government also helps to provide training.

Under Chavez, the indigenous people of Venezuela are being recognized for the first time, and the president is attempting to bring them out of poverty and return them to their homelands, Wingerter said.

Over the years, people have fled the rural lands seeking work and made it to the capital Caracas, which now has a population of 5 million. There’s not work for everyone, so shantytowns surround the city and the poverty level is high.

“Some publicly held land is being given back to individual families that will farm it,” Wingerter said. In addition, some of the biggest landowners in the country are being provided tax incentives to turn land back over to farmers.

“There’s a lot of technical support and training,” Wingerter said. “You’re not just taking people back to rural areas, you’re also giving them the tools to survive.”

Interest in the program has increased around the United States, and the Maine tribes are expected to be part of the process of getting other tribes nationwide involved. Several tribes, such as the Sioux and Ojibwa, already have expressed interest.

Sappier said a meeting is expected to be held in the next couple of months to discuss the year ahead and make plans to get more people involved.