What would appear to be a concerted attempt to resurrect the so-called PetroCaribe plan through which Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries once received oil from Venezuela on credit and at concessionary prices is beginning to do the rounds in parts of the region even though there is still little evidence, up to this time, of anything resembling region-wide enthusiasm for the idea.
Initiated in June 2005 under the presidency of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, PetroCaribe was initiated at a point in time when high oil prices were strangling the economies of member countries of the CARICOM and when a Venezuelan political administration, under pressure from the United States over its leftist leaning, was only too happy to press its vast oil reserves into service to extend its influence among member countries.
