marxist_god
21st December 2007, 22:35
Chávez offers oil for bananas deal
Published: Friday 21 December 2007 21:24 UTC
Last updated: Friday 21 December 2007 22:04 UTC
Cienfuegos (21 December) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is offering Caribbean and South American countries the chance to buy Venezuelan oil in exchange for local products such as bananas and sugar. Speaking at a summit of his regional energy alliance Petrocaribe, Mr Chávez promised his new oil policy would counter the United States' free trade agreements with various countries in the region.
Honduras joined the Venezuelan-funded alliance on Friday, bringing its membership to 17 countries which are entitled to purchase Venezuelan oil at relatively favourable prices. In spite of this, they have managed to accrue debts of over one billion dollars with Venezuela within little over a year.
President Chávez did not go into details about how his oil-for-local-products scheme will work, but he did give the existing deal with Cuba as an example. Havana has received oil supplies for years in exchange for goods and services, such as medical aid.
Published: Friday 21 December 2007 21:24 UTC
Last updated: Friday 21 December 2007 22:04 UTC
Cienfuegos (21 December) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is offering Caribbean and South American countries the chance to buy Venezuelan oil in exchange for local products such as bananas and sugar. Speaking at a summit of his regional energy alliance Petrocaribe, Mr Chávez promised his new oil policy would counter the United States' free trade agreements with various countries in the region.
Honduras joined the Venezuelan-funded alliance on Friday, bringing its membership to 17 countries which are entitled to purchase Venezuelan oil at relatively favourable prices. In spite of this, they have managed to accrue debts of over one billion dollars with Venezuela within little over a year.
President Chávez did not go into details about how his oil-for-local-products scheme will work, but he did give the existing deal with Cuba as an example. Havana has received oil supplies for years in exchange for goods and services, such as medical aid.