CARACAS–Petrocaribe member states have agreed to create a new economic zone. That was one of the developments coming out of a Petrocaribe summit hosted by President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.Maduro also announced that Honduras and Guatemala have been included in the programme, under which Venezuala provides oil and natural gas on preferential terms.
He said the planned economic zone for Petrocaribe member states and other regional blocs is designed to boost regional development by promoting joint investments in trade, tourism, industry, agribusiness and science.Venezuela has also proposed the establishment of a permanent headquarters in Caracas for the Petrocaribe Secretariat.Last year, Venezuela supplied on average 108,000 barrels of oil a day to 14 Petrocaribe members, or 40 per cent of their energy needs.
Speaking at the start of the meeting, Maduro said regional alliances such as Petrocaribe are growing stronger, despite attempts by the "international right wing" to sow division among Latin American countries."They look at us with absolute scorn, as if they would be happy to see Petrocaribe fall apart. But Petrocaribe is consolidating and growing stronger," he said.
Venezuela created Petrocaribe in 2005 to sell fuel to member countries more cheaply and help finance their oil infrastructure projects.The programme currently requires members to pay for 60 per cent of the oil up front and finances the rest at one per cent interest over 25 years.Over the weekend, Guyana announced that it will resume rice shipments to Venezuela following the renewal of a US$130 million rice-for-oil deal between the two countries.
Agriculture Minister Leslie Ramsammy said Guyana could export as much as 210,000 metric tons (231,500 tons) of rice in the next two weeks. He said he expects to travel to Caracas in about a week to hasten the renewed Petrocaribe deal.Guyanese rice farmers produced more than 408,000 metric tons (450,000 tons) of rice last year, with Venezuela paying US$640 per ton, higher than any buyer in Europe or the Caribbean.
AP