Rudy Giuliani yesterday called oil-rich Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez a dangerous foe of the United States - even though Giuliani's law firm lobbies for a U.S. branch of a Chavez-controlled oil company.

Giuliani never mentioned his law firm's contract with Citgo Petroleum to a crowd of Hispanic small business owners, even as he said it's Chavez's vast oil wealth that gives him a platform for his anti-American activities in the region.

"We need a president who knows how to get things done so we don't have to be sending money to Chavez," Giuliani said, calling for energy efficiency to wean Americans from foreign oil. "Who would listen to Chavez if he didn't have all this oil money?"

Bracewell & Giuliani lobbies in Texas for Citgo - a subsidiary of Venezuela's national oil company, controlled by Chavez.

Giuliani has made cutting reliance on foreign oil a key part of his pledge to fight against terrorism if elected, saying it's a way to choke off funding for anti-American leaders like Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chavez has called President Bush "the devil."

At the same time, Giuliani has strenuously defended his law firm's work for Citgo, which funnels part of its revenues back to the Chavez-controlled company, because it has about 4,000 workers here.

"I don't think there's anyone that's more outspoken about how dangerous I think he is," Giuliani said of Chavez after his speech, when asked by reporters about his law firm's lobbying work for Citgo. His campaign also has said Giuliani does no lobbying for Citgo.

The former New York City mayor spoke to The Latino Coalition's small business economic summit the same day Chavez's government took over the last privately run oil fields in Venezuela, one of the world's top oil exporters.

Also yesterday, Giuliani laid out an immigration plan calling for securing the Mexican border with a fence and requiring undocumented workers here to go through a variety of steps toward "Americanization."

"What makes a good American? . . . the American who understands freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, basics that underlie our Declaration of Independence," he said. "To the extent they understand that, that's a good American. To the extent they don't, you're not really a good American."

As New York mayor, Giuliani often defended immigrants and fought for expanded benefits and rights, but he has sharpened his tone on the presidential campaign trail, where many Republicans believe cracking down on undocumented immigrants is a top concern.

Giuliani has tried to link his immigration policy to the importance of securing the nation's borders to fight terrorism, his main issue. He said it's important to find out who all the workers here illegally are now and begin issuing tamper-proof ID cards and ordering them to pay penalties and back taxes - all as a way to figuring out who the criminals are and sending them home.

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By CRAIG GORDON

Newsday