BASSETERRE, St Kitts (Reuters) – Leaders of PetroCaribe, the energy alliance that groups regional oil powerhouse Venezuela with 17 Caribbean and Central American states, are meeting this week to plan a strategy to confront the global economic downturn.
Tomorrow‘s summit in the twin-island Caribbean state of St Kitts and Nevis will discuss “a collective strategic response to the current global economic and financial crisis,” the host government said in a statement. It will be preceded by a meeting of the group’s energy ministers yesterday.
Host Prime Minister Denzil Douglas has said he expected the summit to be attended by 18 heads of state and government from the PetroCaribe region, including the alliance’s creator, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and Cuban President Raul Castro.
During the meeting, Guatemala is expected to formally join PetroCaribe to become the 18th member of the organization.
PetroCaribe was created by leading oil exporter Venezuela in 2005, by its left-leaning President Chavez. It is a regional cooperation mechanism that allows developing, oil-importing countries to buy Venezuelan oil on credit. They can also pay part of their bills with goods and services.
PetroCaribe was initially created with 14 members, but has since expanded to 18. They are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Costa Rica and El Salvador act as observers. Energy-rich Trinidad and Tobago and small oil producer Barbados have opted to stay out of PetroCaribe.
PetroCaribe member countries can buy Venezuelan oil and oil products under a mechanism which, varying calibrated in accordance with the level of world oil prices, allows them to defer from 40 percent up to 70 percent of their bills for up to 25 years, with interest of 1 percent.
The programme also foresees Venezuelan-backed regional investments in energy infrastructure such as refineries and fuel storage facilities, as well as financing for fertilizer supplies, food production and other development projects.
