Chavez pledges oil for Caribbean

Chavez pledges oil for Caribbean

	Published : Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:27 By : Agencies Print this Story

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed Saturday to meet Caribbean nations' oil needs for years to come, and urged the region to unite and seek greater independence from the United States.

Chavez deepened past pledges to share his country's oil wealth as he addressed a summit of nations taking part in Venezuela's Petrocaribe oil initiative, which supplies fuel under preferential terms.

'If we truly unite ... the grandchildren of our grandchildren will have no energy problems,' Chavez said. He predicted that oil prices will soon hit $100 a barrel but said 'the Caribbean shouldn't have problems this century and beyond.'

'Venezuela puts this oil wealth at the disposition of our peoples of the Caribbean,' Chavez said. 'It belongs to all of us. We are going to share it like Christ. ... It will be enough for everyone.'

Venezuela still counts the United States as its top oil buyer, although Chavez has sought to diversify his clientele amid tensions with Washington by selling more to Latin America, the Caribbean and as far away as China.

Since 2005, when Chavez created Petrocaribe, 14 countries have joined Venezuela in the pact, which lets them finance up to half their oil bills over 25 years at low interest.

Caribbean countries have saved $437 million on their oil bills by participating in Petrocaribe, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.

The initiative is set to expand with the addition of Nicaragua, which was represented at the summit by President Daniel Ortega -- another Chavez ally.

Ramirez said Friday that Venezuela is also making progress helping Caribbean nations upgrade and build new refineries, including projects in Cuba, Jamaica and Dominica.

Venezuela has sought to decrease its reliance on a network of U.S. refineries and has turned to the Caribbean for future investment.

Chavez also used the meeting to speak in support of his close ally Cuba, saying the communist-led island is often excluded from Latin American summits. Blaming the U.S., he recalled a 2005 regional gathering in Argentina and said: 'How is it that we accept Cuba not going to that meeting?'

'I swear by my mother ... if there is another one of those summits and Cuba doesn't go, Venezuela won't go to that summit either because it doesn't seem fair,' Chavez said. 'It's an imposition of the United States for Cuba not to attend.'