Oil tycoons and their Dictators

Oil tycoons and Dictators: 

Francisco Franco and the forgotten Texaco history oil barons and Dictators: Francisco Franco and the forgotten history of Texaco by NOTICIASDEABAJO • MARCH 27, 2016 How Texaco supported Fascism By Adam Hochsclild, March 2016 tomdispatch.com (This article is adapted from a fragment of the new book by Adam Hochshild " Spain in our hearts: Americans in the Spanish civil war, 1936-1939 "). "traders do not know any country. The place where they are is not as strong as the site from which their profits bond , " wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1814. Former President lamented the attitude of traders and owners of New York for fear of losing lucrative transatlantic trade, not achieving its support in the war of 1812. Today, traders take their profits in locations around the world, so it is even less likely to feel loyalty to a particular country. Many of them have found it more profitable to go to tax havens. The big multinationals, which sometimes have an annual income higher than the GDP of the world's poorest countries national product, are more powerful than national governments, while their CEOs exert such political influence that many prime ministers and presidents only can dream. the oil companies have been the most aggressive in creating their own foreign policy. With operations spread throughout the world, without which governments can regulate such decisions come to decide how and with whom establish relationships. for example, in the search for oil fields in the Niger delta, according to the journalistSteve Coll, ExxonMobil provided several ships to the navy Nigeria, recruiting some of the army the country, and local police sported the logo of the company (a winged horse red) on their uniforms. the new book by Jane Mayer, dirty Money , talks about how the brothers and oil magnates Charles and David Koch have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party of the United States, which provides a vivid example of how his father Fred launched the energy business they inherit. it is the classic example of not letting fringes that in the way of profits. Fred oil facilities built for the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin before the United States recognize the Soviet Union in 1933; and then he helped Hitler to build one of the largest oil refineries of Nazi Germany, later to supply fuel to its air force, the Luftwaffe. Thanks to Mayer know now this part of the story. But there is another American oilman of the 1930s Dictators whose support has gone somewhat unnoticed. In our world, where oil has become a powerful force, the history of Texaco, before that it became a subsidiary of Chevron, is also instructive: helped determine the course of a war that would shape our world the decades. a pirate flag on top of an Oil Empire Since its inception in 1936 until it ended in early 1939, with about 400,000 dead, the Spanish Civil War focused the attention of everyone. for those who and do not remember, here is a brief summary: a group of army officers who called National, which a young and generally ruthless, Francisco Franco joined, gives a coup against the elected government of the Spanish Republic. Such was his brutality that would soon become a wider conflict, with the support of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.Squadrons of German bombers devastated the city of Guernica, which was in ruins, and destroyed entire neighborhoods of Madrid and Barcelona. Were thousands of civilians killed in these attacks, something that was new at the time. Until the end of the war, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini had sent some 80,000 Italian soldiers to fight alongside the national side. Hitler and Mussolini supplied weapons, ranging from tanks and artillery to submarines. But there was another ally of Franco, who did not appear in the world press, neither lived nor in Berlin or Rome. With a globe on his desk and maps displayed on the wall of his office elegantly paneled, he could be found at the top of the Chrysler Building in the heart of the city of New York. One of the hundreds of foreign correspondents he realized during the bombings of Madrid; when he saw the ominous formations of German aircraft V asked: Where does the fuel for these aircraft? Well, oil was supplied by the best American friend that the fascist dictator could have. Provided not only fuel the Army, but gave generous assistance in kind, opened a generous credit line and at the same time opened a way of strategic intelligence. Torkild Rieber, a burly man with a square jaw, whose presence highlighted in any meeting, attended elegant meetings, such as the 21 Club in New York, where a hamburger and an egg on the menu was a hole after him, captivated the audience with their feats of a checkered past. Born in Norway , he enlisted at 15 years old as a sailor on a boat six months being on a journey that took him to Cape Horn and then to San Francisco. in the two following years, he worked on ships carrying workers of Calcutta, India, the sugar plantations of the British West Indies. with a deep, raspy voice, Rieber told these stories for the rest of his life, the furious hurricane of the Atlantic, when you had to climb the mast to lower the sails , and the desperate hopelessly seasick Indian workers. However, a few years later, he left his attire sailor to wear a tuxedo when he went to Club 21 or elsewhere, because, as he said "that's the way the British unfold in the colonies of Calcutta ". Torkild Rieber, on the cover of Time magazine in May 1936. at 22, after surviving a knife fight against a drunken crew member, American was nationalized and he became captain of a tanker. Since then his friends would call "Cap". This oil was acquired later by the Texas Company, better known by its trade name of Texaco. It was then that he realized that in the oil business, most of the money was achieved on land. As the company expanded and the red star of Texaco with your T in green appeared at service stations everyone, married the secretary of his boss and was rising through the ranks, becoming in 1935 its director General. " you can not sit still in his seat , " wrote an astonished reporter from Life magazine who visited him in the Texaco headquarters in New York. "Bounces up and down, shake and jump to the rhythm of his words, like a deck. It is constantly in motion, terrestrial scale. You can not stay long in your office or in the same city or continent. " Sister Life, Time magazine nor could resist his charms: " Head of a corporation with a will of steel, with common sense, which leads . a human group, and has a driving force in expanding " Texaco, at that time, had a reputation as a brash company, one of the most aggressive oil companies; its founder, who first hired Rieber, placed a flag with a skull and crossbones above the office building. "If I died at a gas station Texaco, should drag me down the road , " he once told an executive of Shell. with Rieber forward, he pushed his way in the oil fields around the world, making deals with local Dictators. in Colombia a new city called Petrólea the size of Rhode Island emerged, where Texaco had acquired drilling rights. to carry oil to a port where the oil it could gather, was constructed pipeline 263 miles through the Andes at Paso Captain Rieber. Under his broad shoulders, his handshake iron, their oaths sailor, is a character acting under the cover, with a somewhat darker side. Although it can not be considered anti - Semitic by the standards of the time, used to say , "Some of my best friends are Jews cursed, as Bernie Gimbel and Solomon Guggenheim" and an admirer of Adolf Hitler. "I thought it was much better to do business with autocrats with democracies. In an aristocrat just you have to bribe once. A democracies have to do it again and again , "recalled a friend. Becoming Franco banker In 1935, the Spanish Republic signed a contract with Texaco Rieber, becoming the Company at its principal oil supplier.However, a year later, when Franco and his allies try to seize power, Rieber suddenly change and commitment to them. Knowing that the military trucks, planes, tanks need not only fuel but also engine oils and other lubricants, the director General of Texaco sends supplies to the French port of Bordeaux, where they will be collected by a tanker of the company and sent to people with difficulties. It was a gesture that Franco never forget. From the authorities of the National Front came with messages saying they needed emergency oil for its military units, but who were short of cash. Rieber responded with a telegram saying, "Do not worry about payments," which became a legend in the inner circles of the Dictator. It is not surprising therefore that shortly after was invited to visit Burgos, home of the insurgency National front, getting soon agree to cut fuel sales to the Republic, while guaranteeing that Franco would receive all the fuel necessary. few have paid attention to see where it came from this generous offer to Franco. not a single investigation on the subject appeared in any major US newspaper in a time when the Spanish Civil War occupied almost daily the headlines. However, it should have been an obvious question, since over 60% of the oil would both parties to the conflict was being consumed by the armies and Germany and Italy could not offer it to Franco because both were oil - importing countries. theUS neutrality laws made ​​that US companies have difficult to sell their goods, even if they were not of a military nature , countries at war, which planteba two major obstacles to the national Bando Franco. the law forbade such cargo was transported by US ships, and the national side had no oil. in addition, it was illegal to supply a country at war through credit, and they had few funds. Gold reserves of Spain were in the hands of the Republic. It was not long before the agents of US Customs found they were Texaco oilmen were breaking the law. So oil partieronlos company Terminal Port Arthur, Texas, with cargo declarations to ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam or Amsterdam. at sea, his captains opened the sealed orders marking a new destination to the ports of national Spain. Rieber also managed to break the law otherwise: extending credit to one of the contenders of the conflict.At first, credit was 90 days (very lenient terms for the oil business at that time). But in reality the terms were much more generous. An official of the National Front explained later: "We pay what we could and when we could." Indeed, the Director General of the US oil company had become the banker of Franco. I unknown by US authorities, Texaco also acted as a buying agent when the National Bando needed petroleum products that werenot in the inventory of the company. the FBI agents actually asked Rieber about these tankers, but the President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed leery of intruding in the Spanish Civil War, even if it was pursuing the obvious breach of US law. instead, Texaco just received a slap on the wrist, paying a fine of $ 22,000 to extend credit . one of the contenders in the war Years later, when oil companies began issuing credit cards to their customers, a joke ran among industry experts: Who was the first to receive a credit card Texaco? Francisco Franco. How todestroy the Republic President Roosevelt continued to maintain a studied neutrality towards the Spanish Civil War, what would later regret. Texaco, however, did participate in the war. Recently, the Spanish historian Guillem Martínez Molinos, was studying the archives of the oil monopoly, and made ​​a discovery: not only Texaco took illegally on their ships oil to Franco, but put a price as if he had transported him with the means, not the tankers of the company. it was not the only gifts Rieber. Mussolini had placed Italian submarines in the Mediterranean to attack the supply ships to Republican Spain. If bienFranco had their boats and airplanes to perform this work.The commanders who directed these submarines, bombers and surface ships were always very well informed on tankers bound for the Republic. These were, of course, primary objective of the national side and during the war at least 29 of them were damaged, were sunk or captured. the risk was so great that in the summer of 1937 the insurance rates tankers plying the Mediterranean quadrupled. One of the reasons why these waters were so dangerous: the National Bando had access to the international maritime intelligence network Texaco. the company had office and sales agents worldwide. Thanks to Rieber, his Paris office began collecting information in port cities on oil heading to supply the Spanish Republic. His associate in Paris, William M. Brewster, coordinated the flow of information and data transmission national, they received from London, Istanbul, Marseille and elsewhere. Brewster messages enumerating often the amount and type of a ship carrying fuel and how much was paid for it, so that this information would help the National Bando assess supplies and finances of the Republic. However, whenever possible, also sent useful for bomber pilots or captains submarine in search of objective information. On July 2, 1937, for example, sent a telegram to the head of the Lessee Company Oil Monopoly SA (Campsa) on the SS Campoamor , a tanker of the Republic Texaco agent had seen in Le Verdon, near the French port of Bordeaux. Had covered his name under several layers of black paint and was about to set sail with British flag. Twice had left and returned to port because of reports that indicated the presence of ships and submarines of the National Bando near Santander, when it should deliver its cargo of 10,000 tons of fuel kerosene for aviation in a port of the Republic. the news that had been repainted and had another flag, was very useful information for commanders of warships of national . But there were other valuable information in the message Brewster. "much of the crew left the ship almost every night" Four days later, when most of the crew attends a dance, Campoamor is assaulted midnight by an armed group the National Bando, bringing the ship to a port held by Franco. Rieber traveled to the National Spain twice during the war. In one of them he visited the front lines near Madrid. In April 1939, after Franco had won the war, assured payment Rieber bet more than he had done. Texaco receive finally the money given to account for supplies of fuel he had done for nearly three years. In total, had sold the National Bando about 20 million dollars worth of oil during the war, the equivalent of about 325 million dollars today. Texaco tankers had made ​​225 trips to Spain, and Franco rented 156 other ships of the company. Later, Rieber was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, one of the highest honors that can be received in Spain. When he finished the Spanish Civil War, Texaco continued its own foreign policy. Even after Germany entered the war with Britain and France in September 1939, Rieber did not hide his enthusiasm for Hitler. Sometimes he joked with his friends saying that while anti - Semitism of Hitler might seem excessive, but was needed a strong leader, an anti - communist with whom they could do business.not only Texaco negotiated and supported the Nazis and fascists in Europe, Ford and Coca Cola, among others,also did Rieber sold without fuel it remilgos the Nazis, using tankers built in the shipyards of Hamburg and traveling to Germany after the blitzkrieg of Poland, the hand of Hermann Goering to know the key industries in the area. During this trip spent a weekend in the country house commander of the Luftwaffe Carinhall, which would then be decorated extravagantly with works of art looted throughout Europe. Over time, the love of Rieber by Dictators ended up spending toll. in 1940 it was discovered, among other things, that several Germans who had hired were Nazi spies who use internal communications Texaco to transmit intelligence to Berlin. Rieber was fired, but Franco quickly appointed him Chief Procurement of Campsa, in gratitude for their support during the war. later he held successive management positions in the oil industry and shipbuilding, dying rich in 1968 at the age of 86 years. Rieber was forgotten for a long time, but his hand helped shape today 's world. the oil Texaco helped Franco could win the Civil war and thus be able to help the Nazis in the greatest war that has never been given. a countless number of American sailors were killed when attacked by German U-boats located on the Atlantic coast of Spain. Forty-five thousand Spaniards were allowed to volunteer the army and air force Hitler, and Spain provided a significant amount of strategic minerals for the German war industry. in the United States, three four-century later, scientists well funded the Koch brothers, climate change deniers, or have established a network of political patronage, which is testament to the enduring power of the Oil Industry. --------- Adam Hochschild teaches at the School of Journalism University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of eight books, including those found King Leopold's Ghost, End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion: 1914-1918.This article is adapted from a fragment of the new book by Adam Hochshild " Spain in our hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 ." ------------- Hometown article: http : //www.tomdispatch.com/post/176117/tomgram%3A_adam_hochschild%2C_ He placed a flag with a skull and crossbones above the office building. "If I died at a gas station Texaco, should drag me down the road , " he once told an executive of Shell. With Rieber forward, pushed his way in oil fields around the world, making deals with local Dictators. in Colombia emerged a new city called Petrólea the size of Rhode Island, where Texaco had acquired drilling rights. to bring the oil to a port where the oil it could collect, was constructed pipeline 263 miles through the Andes at Paso Captain Rieber. under his broad shoulders, his handshake iron, their oaths sailor, is a character who acts under the deck with one hand something darker. Although it can not be considered anti -Semitic by the standards of the time, used to say , "Some of my best friends are Jews cursed, as Bernie Gimbel and Solomon Guggenheim" and an admirer of Adolf Hitler. "I thought it was much better to do business with autocrats with democracies. In an aristocrat just you have to bribe once. A democracies have to do it again and again , "recalled a friend. Becoming Franco banker In 1935, the Spanish Republic signed a contract with Texaco Rieber, becoming the Company at its principal oil supplier. However, a year later, when Franco and his allies try to seize power, Rieber suddenly change and commitment to them. Knowing that the military trucks, planes, tanks need not only fuel but also engine oils and other lubricants, the director General of Texaco sends supplies to theFrench port of Bordeaux, where they will be collected by a tanker of the company and sent to people with difficulties. It was a gesture that Franco never forget. From the authorities of the National Front came with messages saying they needed emergency oil for its military units, but who were short of cash. Rieber responded with a telegram saying, "Do not worry about payments," which became a legend in the inner circles of the Dictator. It is not surprising therefore that shortly after was invited to visit Burgos, home of the insurgency National front, getting soon agree to cut fuel sales to the Republic, while guaranteeing that Franco would receive all the fuel necessary. few have paid attention to see where it came from this generous offer to Franco. not a single investigation on the subject appeared in any major US newspaper in a time when the Spanish Civil War occupied almost daily the headlines. However, it should have been an obvious question, since over 60% of the oil would both parties to the conflict was being consumed by the armies and Germany and Italy could not offer it to Franco because both were oil - importing countries. the US neutrality laws made ​​that US companies have difficult to sell their goods, even if they were not of a military nature , countries at war, which planteba two major obstacles to the national Bando Franco. the law forbade such cargo was transported by US ships, and the national side had no oil. in addition, it was illegal to supply a country at war through credit, and they had few funds. Gold reserves of Spain were in the hands of the Republic. It was not long before the agents of US Customs found they were Texaco oilmen were breaking the law. So oil partieronlos company Terminal Port Arthur, Texas, with cargo declarations to ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam or Amsterdam. at sea, his captains opened the sealed orders marking a new destination to the ports of national Spain. Rieber also managed tobreak the law otherwise: extending credit to one of the contenders of the conflict. At first, credit was 90 days (very lenient terms for the oil business at that time). But in reality the terms were much more generous. An official of the National Front explained later: "We pay what we could and when we could." Indeed, the Director General of the US oil company had become the banker of Franco. I unknown by US authorities, Texaco also acted as a buying agent when the National Bando needed petroleum products that were not in the inventory of the company. the FBI agents actually asked Rieber about these tankers, but the President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed leery of intruding in the Spanish Civil War, even if it was pursuing the obvious breach of US law. instead, Texaco just received a slap on the wrist, paying a fine of $ 22,000 to extend credit . one of the contenders in the war Years later, when oil companies began issuing credit cards to their customers, a joke ran among industry experts: Who was the first to receive a credit card Texaco? Francisco Franco. How to destroy the RepublicPresident Roosevelt continued to maintain a studied neutrality towards the Spanish Civil War, what would later regret. Texaco, however, did participate in the war. Recently, the Spanish historian Guillem Martínez Molinos, was studying the archives of the oil monopoly, and made ​​a discovery: not only Texaco took illegally on their ships oil to Franco, but put a price as if he had transported him with the means, not the tankers of the company. it was not the only gifts Rieber. Mussolini had placed Italian submarines in the Mediterranean to attack the supply ships to Republican Spain. If bienFranco had their boats and airplanes to perform this work. The commanders who directed these submarines, bombers and surface ships were always very well informed on tankers bound for the Republic. These were, of course, primary objective of the national side and during the war at least 29 of them were damaged, were sunk or captured. the risk was so great that in the summer of 1937 the insurance rates tankers plying the Mediterranean quadrupled. One of the reasons why these waters were so dangerous: the National Bando had access to the international maritime intelligence network Texaco. the company had office and sales agents worldwide. Thanks to Rieber, his Paris office began collecting information in port cities on oil heading to supply the Spanish Republic. His associate in Paris, William M. Brewster, coordinated the flow of information and data transmission national, they received from London, Istanbul, Marseille and elsewhere.Brewster messages enumerating often the amount and type of a ship carrying fuel and how much was paid for it, so that this information would help the National Bando assess supplies and finances of the Republic. However, whenever possible, also sent useful for bomber pilots or captains submarine in search of objective information.On July 2, 1937, for example, sent a telegram to the head of the Lessee Company Oil Monopoly SA (Campsa) on the SS Campoamor , a tanker of the Republic Texaco agent had seen in Le Verdon, near the French port of Bordeaux. Had covered his name under several layers of black paint and was about to set sail with British flag.Twice had left and returned to port because of reports that indicated the presence of ships and submarines of the National Bando near Santander, when it should deliver its cargo of 10,000 tons of fuel kerosene for aviation in a port of the Republic. the news that had been repainted and had another flag, was very useful information for commanders of warships of national . But there were other valuable information in the message Brewster. "much of the crew left the ship almost every night" Four days later, when most of the crew attends a dance, Campoamor is assaulted midnight by an armed group the National Bando, bringing the ship to a port held by Franco. Rieber traveled to the National Spain twice during the war. In one of them he visited the front lines near Madrid. In April 1939, after Franco had won the war, assured payment Rieber bet more than he had done.Texaco receive finally the money given to account for supplies of fuel he had done for nearly three years. In total, had sold the National Bando about 20 million dollars worth of oil during the war, the equivalent of about 325 million dollars today. Texaco tankers had made ​​225 trips to Spain, and Franco rented 156 other ships of the company. Later, Rieber was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, one of the highest honors that can be received in Spain. When he finished the Spanish Civil War, Texaco continued its own foreign policy. Even after Germany entered the war with Britain and France in September 1939, Rieber did not hide his enthusiasm for Hitler. Sometimes he joked with his friends saying that while anti - Semitism of Hitler might seem excessive, but was needed a strong leader, an anti - communist with whom they could do business. not only Texaco negotiated and supported the Nazis and fascists in Europe, Ford and Coca Cola, among others, also didRieber sold without fuel it remilgos the Nazis, using tankers built in the shipyards of Hamburg and traveling to Germany after the blitzkrieg of Poland, the hand of Hermann Goering to know the key industries in the area.During this trip spent a weekend in the country house commander of the Luftwaffe Carinhall, which would then be decorated extravagantly with works of art looted throughout Europe. Over time, the love of Rieber by Dictators ended up spending toll. in 1940 it was discovered, among other things, that several Germans who had hired were Nazi spies who use internal communications Texaco to transmit intelligence to Berlin. Rieber was fired, but Franco quickly appointed him Chief Procurement of Campsa, in gratitude for their support during the war. later he held successive management positions in the oil industry and shipbuilding, dying rich in 1968 at the age of 86 years. Rieber was forgotten for a long time, but his hand helped shape today 's world. the oil Texaco helped Franco could win the Civil war and thus be able to help the Nazis in the greatest war that has never been given. a countless number of American sailors were killed when attacked by German U-boats located on the Atlantic coast of Spain. Forty-five thousand Spaniards were allowed to volunteer the army and air force Hitler, and Spain provided a significant amount of strategic minerals for the German war industry. in the United States, three four-century later, scientists well funded the Koch brothers, climate change deniers, or have established a network of political patronage, which is testament to the enduring power of the Oil Industry. --------- Adam Hochschild teaches at the School of Journalism University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of eight books, including those found King Leopold's Ghost, End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion: 1914-1918.This article is adapted from a fragment of the new book by Adam Hochshild " Spain in our hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 ." ------------- Hometown article: http : //www.tomdispatch.com/post/176117/tomgram%3A_adam_hochschild%2C_ He placed a flag with a skull and crossbones above the office building. "If I died at a gas station Texaco, should drag me down the road , " he once told an executive of Shell. With Rieber forward, pushed his way in oil fields around the world, making deals with local Dictators. in Colombia emerged a new city called Petrólea the size of Rhode Island, where Texaco had acquired drilling rights. to bring the oil to a port where the oil it could collect, was constructed pipeline 263 miles through the Andes at Paso Captain Rieber. under his broad shoulders, his handshake iron, their oaths sailor, is a character who acts under the deck with one hand something darker. Although it can not be considered anti -Semitic by the standards of the time, used to say , "Some of my best friends are Jews cursed, as Bernie Gimbel and Solomon Guggenheim" and an admirer of Adolf Hitler. "I thought it was much better to do business with autocrats with democracies. In an aristocrat just you have to bribe once. A democracies have to do it again and again , "recalled a friend. Becoming Franco banker In 1935, the Spanish Republic signed a contract with Texaco Rieber, becoming the Company at its principal oil supplier. However, a year later, when Franco and his allies try to seize power, Rieber suddenly change and commitment to them. Knowing that the military trucks, planes, tanks need not only fuel but also engine oils and other lubricants, the director General of Texaco sends supplies to theFrench port of Bordeaux, where they will be collected by a tanker of the company and sent to people with difficulties. It was a gesture that Franco never forget. From the authorities of the National Front came with messages saying they needed emergency oil for its military units, but who were short of cash. Rieber responded with a telegram saying, "Do not worry about payments," which became a legend in the inner circles of the Dictator. It is not surprising therefore that shortly after was invited to visit Burgos, home of the insurgency National front, getting soon agree to cut fuel sales to the Republic, while guaranteeing that Franco would receive all the fuel necessary. few have paid attention to see where it came from this generous offer to Franco. not a single investigation on the subject appeared in any major US newspaper in a time when the Spanish Civil War occupied almost daily the headlines. However, it should have been an obvious question, since over 60% of the oil would both parties to the conflict was being consumed by the armies and Germany and Italy could not offer it to Franco because both were oil - importing countries. the US neutrality laws made ​​that US companies have difficult to sell their goods, even if they were not of a military nature , countries at war, which planteba two major obstacles to the national Bando Franco. the law forbade such cargo was transported by US ships, and the national side had no oil. in addition, it was illegal to supply a country at war through credit, and they had few funds. Gold reserves of Spain were in the hands of the Republic. It was not long before the agents of US Customs found they were Texaco oilmen were breaking the law. So oil partieronlos company Terminal Port Arthur, Texas, with cargo declarations to ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam or Amsterdam. at sea, his captains opened the sealed orders marking a new destination to the ports of national Spain. Rieber also managed tobreak the law otherwise: extending credit to one of the contenders of the conflict. At first, credit was 90 days (very lenient terms for the oil business at that time). But in reality the terms were much more generous. An official of the National Front explained later: "We pay what we could and when we could." Indeed, the Director General of the US oil company had become the banker of Franco. I unknown by US authorities, Texaco also acted as a buying agent when the National Bando needed petroleum products that were not in the inventory of the company. the FBI agents actually asked Rieber about these tankers, but the President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed leery of intruding in the Spanish Civil War, even if it was pursuing the obvious breach of US law. instead, Texaco just received a slap on the wrist, paying a fine of $ 22,000 to extend credit . one of the contenders in the war Years later, when oil companies began issuing credit cards to their customers, a joke ran among industry experts: Who was the first to receive a credit card Texaco? Francisco Franco. How to destroy the RepublicPresident Roosevelt continued to maintain a studied neutrality towards the Spanish Civil War, what would later regret. Texaco, however, did participate in the war. Recently, the Spanish historian Guillem Martínez Molinos, was studying the archives of the oil monopoly, and made ​​a discovery: not only Texaco took illegally on their ships oil to Franco, but put a price as if he had transported him with the means, not the tankers of the company. it was not the only gifts Rieber. Mussolini had placed Italian submarines in the Mediterranean to attack the supply ships to Republican Spain. If bienFranco had their boats and airplanes to perform this work. The commanders who directed these submarines, bombers and surface ships were always very well informed on tankers bound for the Republic. These were, of course, primary objective of the national side and during the war at least 29 of them were damaged, were sunk or captured. the risk was so great that in the summer of 1937 the insurance rates tankers plying the Mediterranean quadrupled. One of the reasons why these waters were so dangerous: the National Bando had access to the international maritime intelligence network Texaco. the company had office and sales agents worldwide. Thanks to Rieber, his Paris office began collecting information in port cities on oil heading to supply the Spanish Republic. His associate in Paris, William M. Brewster, coordinated the flow of information and data transmission national, they received from London, Istanbul, Marseille and elsewhere.Brewster messages enumerating often the amount and type of a ship carrying fuel and how much was paid for it, so that this information would help the National Bando assess supplies and finances of the Republic. However, whenever possible, also sent useful for bomber pilots or captains submarine in search of objective information.On July 2, 1937, for example, sent a telegram to the head of the Lessee Company Oil Monopoly SA (Campsa) on the SS Campoamor , a tanker of the Republic Texaco agent had seen in Le Verdon, near the French port of Bordeaux. Had covered his name under several layers of black paint and was about to set sail with British flag.Twice had left and returned to port because of reports that indicated the presence of ships and submarines of the National Bando near Santander, when it should deliver its cargo of 10,000 tons of fuel kerosene for aviation in a port of the Republic. the news that had been repainted and had another flag, was very useful information for commanders of warships of national . But there were other valuable information in the message Brewster. "much of the crew left the ship almost every night" Four days later, when most of the crew attends a dance, Campoamor is assaulted midnight by an armed group the National Bando, bringing the ship to a port held by Franco. Rieber traveled to the National Spain twice during the war. In one of them he visited the front lines near Madrid. In April 1939, after Franco had won the war, assured payment Rieber bet more than he had done.Texaco receive finally the money given to account for supplies of fuel he had done for nearly three years. In total, had sold the National Bando about 20 million dollars worth of oil during the war, the equivalent of about 325 million dollars today. Texaco tankers had made ​​225 trips to Spain, and Franco rented 156 other ships of the company. Later, Rieber was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, one of the highest honors that can be received in Spain. When he finished the Spanish Civil War, Texaco continued its own foreign policy. Even after Germany entered the war with Britain and France in September 1939, Rieber did not hide his enthusiasm for Hitler. Sometimes he joked with his friends saying that while anti - Semitism of Hitler might seem excessive, but was needed a strong leader, an anti - communist with whom they could do business. not only Texaco negotiated and supported the Nazis and fascists in Europe, Ford and Coca Cola, among others, also didRieber sold without fuel it remilgos the Nazis, using tankers built in the shipyards of Hamburg and traveling to Germany after the blitzkrieg of Poland, the hand of Hermann Goering to know the key industries in the area.During this trip spent a weekend in the country house commander of the Luftwaffe Carinhall, which would then be decorated extravagantly with works of art looted throughout Europe. Over time, the love of Rieber by Dictators ended up spending toll. in 1940 it was discovered, among other things, that several Germans who had hired were Nazi spies who use internal communications Texaco to transmit intelligence to Berlin. Rieber was fired, but Franco quickly appointed him Chief Procurement of Campsa, in gratitude for their support during the war. later he held successive management positions in the oil industry and shipbuilding, dying rich in 1968 at the age of 86 years. Rieber was forgotten for a long time, but his hand helped shape today 's world. the oil Texaco helped Franco could win the Civil war and thus be able to help the Nazis in the greatest war that has never been given. a countless number of American sailors were killed when attacked by German U-boats located on the Atlantic coast of Spain. Forty-five thousand Spaniards were allowed to volunteer the army and air force Hitler, and Spain provided a significant amount of strategic minerals for the German war industry. in the United States, three four-century later, scientists well funded the Koch brothers, climate change deniers, or have established a network of political patronage, which is testament to the enduring power of the Oil Industry. --------- Adam Hochschild teaches at the School of Journalism University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of eight books, including those found King Leopold's Ghost, End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion: 1914-1918.This article is adapted from a fragment of the new book by Adam Hochshild " Spain in our hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 ." ------------- Hometown article: http : //www.tomdispatch.com/post/176117/tomgram%3A_adam_hochschild%2C_