- Sep 14, 2004
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It is not clear where to put this thread. Perhaps there should be separate forums for Latin America and Africa.
Chavez warns U.S. on ties in Caribbean summit
Wed Jun 29, 2005 09:34 PM ET
By Magdalena Morales
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8934053
Chavez and his pal.
PUERTO LA CRUZ, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday accused the United States of meddling in his efforts to create an energy alliance with Caribbean neighbors and said he may one day have to cut ties with Washington.
The left-wing leader made the warning after reading a letter critical of his rule which he said was sent by the State Department to some of the 15 Caribbean nations attending an energy summit that he hosted in eastern Venezuela.
"We would have reasons to break relations with this (U.S.) government, out of dignity ... Maybe we will one day, I don't know," said Chavez angrily brandishing the letter.
He made clear he had obtained the document, which he said was dated June 27 and sent to English-speaking Caribbean states, from one of the delegations, but did not say which.
Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and a leading oil supplier to the United States, but nationalist Chavez wants to develop diversified energy ties with Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
He earlier announced a Caribbean energy alliance that offered cheaper direct oil supplies to neighbors including ally Cuba in a challenge to U.S. influence in the region.
"Venezuela wants to share its energy potential with South America and the Caribbean," Chavez told the Caribbean leaders, who included Cuban President Fidel Castro.
He said the U.S. letter sent to Caribbean leaders spelled out Washington's concern over "threats to Venezuela's democracy" under his rule. It also accused him of using Venezuela's oil to try to destabilize neighbors like Bolivia and Ecuador by supporting radical groups, he added.
"This is abominable," he said. "It makes me angry." (He would be an authority on what is abominable.)
In his Petrocaribe initiative, he proposed making Venezuela the center of an oil distribution and refining network serving the Caribbean, especially poorer oil-importing states.
Chavez said this would eliminate intermediary private oil traders and offer easier payment facilities.
OIL DIPLOMACY
Venezuela is already supplying small Caribbean and Central American states with oil and fuel under preferential terms.
Chavez said Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA had created an affiliate, PDV Caribe, to coordinate oil shipping, storage and refining in regional hubs like Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
Caribbean leaders welcomed the Petrocaribe initiative, saying it would provide relief to their oil-importing economies squeezed by high world oil prices. But some questioned how it would operate and wanted more time to consider.
The Petrocaribe plan is part of Chavez's effort to bolster Caribbean and Latin American economic unity to counter what he calls "imperialist" U.S. free-trade policies.
"It's a relatively low-cost geo-political move. ... It gets Venezuela more votes in the Organization of American States and consolidates Chavez politically," said Michael Shifter of Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank
Chavez said Venezuela would continue to ship 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and oil products to the United States. But he condemned unfair "imperialist contracts" he said had robbed his country for years.
The nations which attended the summit in Venezuela were Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
