J. Sid McMillionaire's trip to Latin American last week shines a spotlight on some little know facts about his ties to big oil, as in Colombia, the right wing led nation where he wants US jobs to be offshored there for workers' slave labor wages while union leaders in that country are being steadily killed.

Sid has been a long time champion of big oil and they fill his campaign coffers, while he plans to give them billions in profit companies huge tax breaks.

From NACLA, the North American Congress on Latin America (via Cursor.org) comes this:

"When you consider John McCain¢s ties to Big Oil, the GOP candidate¢s claim to be a political maverick taking on special interests is nothing short of absurd. According to Progressive Media USA, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, the Arizona Senator has benefited handily from the oil sector. Indeed, McCain has netted at least $700,000 from the oil and gas industry since 1989.

"In Congress, he has worked tirelessly to advance the interests of the oil industry. For example, McCain¢s tax plan gives the top five oil companies $3.8 billion a year in tax breaks. McCain meanwhile has voted against reducing dependence on foreign oil, has twice rejected windfall profits tax for Big Oil, and has voted against taxing oil companies to provide a $100 rebate to consumers. If that were not enough, McCain also made a risky political decision recently to back new offshore oil drilling in the U.S.

"Moreover, oil companies that have contributed to McCain have benefited greatly in terms of their foreign operations. One might cite the case of Chevron, for example, which has donated to McCain¢s cloak and dagger International Republican Institute (IRI). Though the Arizona Senator seldom talks about it, he has gotten much of his foreign policy experience working with the operation. Since 1993, McCain has served as Chair of the outfit, which is funded by the U.S. government and private money. The group, which receives tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each year, claims to promote democracy worldwide.

"In April of this year, Chevron announced that it was involved in discussions with the Iraqi Oil Ministry to increase production in an important oil field in southern Iraq. The discussions were aimed at finalizing a two-year deal, or technical support agreement, to boost production at the West Qurna Stage 1 oil field near Basra, Iraq's second-largest city. Since McCain solidified his position as the GOP¢s nominee, Chevron Chairman David O'Reilly gave $28,500 to the GOP. Meanwhile lobbyist Wayne Berman, McCain¢s National Finance Co-Chairman, counts Chevron as one of his principal clients.

"For the most part, the U.S. media ignores Colombia. When it does cover the Andean nation, it tends to focus on drug-related issues and cocaine production. As a result, the U.S. public doesn¢t know that Colombia is also a huge oil producer and that the U.S. has important economic interests in this part of the world. U.S. officials would like to guarantee a safe and steady supply of crude from neighboring countries like Venezuela and Colombia, thus lessening dependence on Middle East providers. Today, Colombia is the United States¢ 12th largest foreign oil exporter (and third largest in South America after Venezuela and Ecuador) and ships 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the American market. 

"One firm attracted by the generous new financial terms has been Chevron, the same company that contributed to McCain¢s campaigns and the IRI and which has benefited handsomely from the opening up of Iraqi fields. In association with Ecopetrol, Chevron operates the Ballena and Riohacha natural gas fields in the Guajira province of northeastern Colombia. Chevron's total daily average production in 2007 was 469 million cubic feet of gas per day.

"But McCain¢s Colombia ties go much deeper than this.

"As Sam Stein noted on the Huffington Post, '[McCain¢s] position as an independent arbitrator on Colombia - a country often criticized for its labor and human rights practices - is undermined by a bevy of advisers who have earned large amounts either lobbying for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, or representing corporations that do business with that country.' "

Read the entire article to learn much, much more about McMillionaire's blatant conflict of interest in his ties to big oil and how those oil tentacles reach into Iraq, Colombia and elsewhere.  He and his corproate oil cronies are making out like bandits. 

If you thought the Bush administration and big oil were Siamese twins screwing this country, you ain't seen nothing yet with McCain and his super wealthy petroleum friends.