Petrocaribe has stood the test of time ... ...thanks to the legacy left by Hugo Chávez

Maduro: Petrocaribe has stood the test of time

DURING the 7th PETROCARIBE Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Caracas after the 9th Ministerial Council, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said that the organization had stood the test of time, thanks to the legacy left by Hugo Chávez.

The President proposed the idea of designating a number of currencies, such as the SUCRE (the Unitary System of Regional Compensation), or other formulas, to facilitate trade among PETROCARIBE members.

The Summit approved the full membership of Honduras and Guatemala, in line with the goal of strengthening regional integration in the energy sector, according to Prensa Latina.  Also agreed upon was the scheduling of a Summit in Nicaragua this coming June 29, on the eve of the organization’s eighth anniversary.

The Summit was preceded by an Energy and Finances Ministerial Council meeting.  Venezuelan Minister of Oil and Mining, Rafael Ramírez, reported that the necessary conditions were in place for the functioning of the PETROCARIBE Economic Zone, another tool to promote ongoing sustainable, harmonious development in the region.

PETROCARIBE’s energy agreement, with 18 countries participating, has facilitated social progress, going beyond the supplying of oil on the basis of flexible financial terms.  For example, its ALBA-Caribe Fund has provided more than $179 million for the execution of 85 projects in 12 nations.  Through this fund, finances have been made available to advance access to healthcare, education and housing, as well as promoting economic development.

PETROCARIBE was founded in 2005 and includes Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Venezuela.

Leaders attending the 7th PETROCARIBE Summit paid tribute to Chávez, visiting the Montaña Garrison, on the two month anniversary of his death.

CUBA EMPHASIZES PETROCARIBE’S IMPORTANCE TO DEVELOPMENT

The creation of PETROCARIBE represents an integrationist response to mitigate the asymmetry generated by neocolonialism in the Caribbean, said Ricardo Cabrisas, Vice President of Cuba’s Council of Ministers, in his remarks to the Summit, according to PL.

Under the leadership of Chávez, PETROCARIBE was an "original and audacious idea" which, from the beginning, sought to go beyond merely distributing oil, to promote collaborative energy policies.

According to Cabrisas, Chávez foresaw a comprehensive project, which would support cooperation in programs of social impact, in addition to facilitating access to oil supplies.

Cabrisas further commented, "It is our responsibility to guarantee the continuity of this collaboration between sister peoples facing the crisis of the world economy, of energy, food, the environment and ideas."

May 09, 2013

Granma.cu

Venezuela's deadly pact with Latin American and Caribbean states

By Rebecca Theodore


Beware! The manipulative game of bartering oil for social welfare and aid to solve the economic woes of many Latin American and Caribbean states by Venezuela’s despot Hugo Chavez lingers.

Despite original predictions of its unsustainability, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) is quickly spreading throughout the region like wildfire, leaving in its wake a voice that cries out loud against reason and a political movement that tears the commercial veil of the Caribbean, Latin America, and the US asunder, being pulled and tossed in directions unknown by ideologically contrasting powers.

As games rely on the technical representation of an idea that either player can manipulate to victory, the allure for cheap oil for many Latin American and Caribbean countries now see them turning their backs on the US, choosing instead to associate themselves with governments overtly committed to building socialism. Faced with serious balance-of-payment problems, the bait entangled in a form of economic integration is appealing.

Thus, in their bold attempts for economic recovery and in choosing to align with Chavez, Latin American and Caribbean states are also lamenting the fact that Washington only supports democracy if and only if it contributes to their strategic and economic interests.

While assenting factors advocate that ALBA focuses on social cooperation and the use of economic growth to solve the people's problems, including unemployment and illiteracy, opponents on the other hand argue that this leftist trade bloc, funded by Venezuelan oil money and Cuban and Bolivarian ideology is nothing but a front for a broader socialist and anti-American agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Deemed a destabilizing effect on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) by Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding from its infancy, the socialist movement (ALBA) is spreading across the region like a deadly epidemic, with countries such as Nicaragua, Ecuador, Honduras, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and the Dominican Republic signing up as innocent lambs to the slaughter.

There is no doubt that this move yields ominous concerns, as dependence on foreign direct investment and tourism as a major propellant of development is curtailed. Concerns that the old order of power in Latin America and the Caribbean may also be permanently threatened.

As a lion disguised in sheep’s clothing, it must be seen that ALBA’s repute as an economic alliance for Latin American and Caribbean solidarity is only based on Chavez’s ideological hallucination -- an ideology that is not only masked in vengeance and hatred against the US to undermine the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) but also one that transgresses the practice of international law and bestows on Chavez the attention which he no doubt desperately craves in world politics.

Proposal for a joint ALBA military force by Venezuela and Nicaragua to replace the Inter-American Defense Board joint military aid, as well as intelligence and counterintelligence cooperation to combat the illusive terrorism and permanent aggression threat by the United States continues to be the theme of Chavez’s inflated rhetoric.

As more and more Latin American and Caribbean countries are depositing agreed amounts of their respective national currencies into a special SUCRE (Single Regional Compensation System) fund, it seems the SUCRE is rapidly replacing the US dollar as a medium of exchange with a Regional Monetary Council, and a Central Clearing House, hence decreasing US control of Latin American and Caribbean economies and fortifying Chavez’s long time insane ambition of the SUCRE becoming an international reserve currency much like the euro.

While the US sits idly by, choosing instead to label it an ‘oil conspiracy’, ignoring the Monroe Doctrine approach, which regarded the Caribbean as its backyard, emboldening its neighbours and internal groups to challenge its sovereignty, a new form of 21st century socialism now governs the economic and political policies of Latin America and the Caribbean.

It is a dramatic development, a difficult encounter and a concern of gigantic historical and commercial proportions.

March 17, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International