>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Apparently-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >October 31, 2000 > >Venezuela Will Sell Cuba Low-Priced Oil >http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/31/world/31VENE.html >By LARRY ROHTER > >CARACAS, Venezuela, Oct. 30 - Capping a five-day state visit by >President Fidel Castro, the governments of Cuba and Venezuela >sealed a de facto economic and political alliance today, signing >an agreement for Venezuela to supply one-third of Cuba's oil >needs at cut-rate prices. > >Venezuela agreed to provide oil with a market value of $3 billion >at current prices, delivering 53,000 barrels a day for five >years. A barrel of crude has 42 gallons. > >Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves outside the >Mideast, also agreed to grant Cuba cheap long- term credits and >to accept a barter arrangement for repayment, greatly reducing >the cost. > >The arrangement is a windfall for Cuba and its cash-starved >economy, but a source of dispute among Venezuelans, >many of whom say the country can ill afford to help others. > >Mr. Castro has had to go to the open market for oil since the >collapse of the Soviet Union voided a supply agreement at low >prices. Foreign Minister Felipe P�rez Roque said this month that >recent increases in oil prices had forced the government to >budget an additional $500 million for imports this year. > >With Mr. Castro's visit, his first here in more than 40 years, >both leaders spoke of the deepening relationship between the two >countries. > >President Hugo Ch�vez of Venezuela said before the visit that "we >have no choice but to form an axis of power" with Cuba and other >like- minded countries that "permits us to relate to the rest of >the world." Mr. Ch�vez returned repeatedly to that theme after >Mr. Castro's arrival. > >"This is not just a matter of friendship," Mr. Ch�vez, 46, a >former army colonel who describes himself as a revolutionary, >said on Sunday on his weekly radio program with Mr. Castro, 74, >sitting at his side. "It is a geopolitical vision of the >integration of our peoples." > >Today, he added, "I think we have proven that our two peoples are >one and the same." > >The oil accord is virtually identical to one that Venezuela >signed this month with 12 other Caribbean and Central America >countries. They have been given 15 years to repay, with a 2 >percent interest rate and prices as low as $20 a barrel, >compared with the current price of just over $30. As with >the other countries, Cuba will be allowed to repay Venezuela >with a mixture of money, goods and services. > >A supplementary agreement signed today talks of Cuba, whose >reserves of hard currency are limited, exporting vaccines and >sugar technology to Venezuela, along with doctors and up to 3,000 >physical education teachers and sports coaches and trainers, who >might be unemployed if they remained in Cuba. > >Since the 1980's, Venezuela and Mexico have been partners >in an arrangement that supplies oil at special prices to the >small >nations of Central America and the Caribbean. > >But Latin American diplomats here said Mexico had rebuffed a >Venezuelan initiative to let Cuba join the group, fearing that >Cuba might not be able to pay. > >In addition, the diplomats said, Venezuela fears that the new >conservative government of Vicente Fox that will take office on >Dec. 1 in Mexico may be even less sympathetic to Mr. Castro. >Those concerns, combined with Mr. Ch�vez's desire to use oil to >make Venezuela a regional power, led to the initiatives. > >Venezuela is the third largest oil exporter. Its main customer is >the United States, which buys 1.4 million barrels a day, or about >half Venezuela's total production. > >In essence, the accord today lets Mr. Ch�vez use the increase in >oil revenues earned in the United States to subsidize consumption >in Cuba, a notion that is sure to appeal to and perhaps even >amuse the anti-American faction in his inner circle. > >Foreign Minister Jos� Vicente Rangel, a leader of that group, >denied this month that there was any "ideological character" to >the deal with Cuba. But he has also said, "Petroleum has been a >political weapon throughout history." > >Apparently as proof of that, Venezuela has excluded neighboring >Guyana, where it has a longstanding border dispute, from the >regional pact. > >At a long news conference with Mr. Ch�vez this afternoon, Mr. >Castro said, "I came here not looking for fuel, though Venezuela >has a lot of it, but seeking understanding and brotherhood." > >He also attacked Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore, >whom he dismissed as "little gentlemen" of no substance. > >"I haven't the slightest interest in either of them," added Mr. >Castro, who has been in power since 1959. "I have lost count of >how many presidents" he has outlasted. > >"The only one who was decent and gentlemanly," he said, >was Jimmy Carter. > >Mr. Ch�vez also took a few milder swipes at the United States. >He said Colombia should resolve its civil conflict "without >foreign >interference," apparently a reference to Washington's decision to >send $1.3 billion in emergency aid to Bogot�. > >There is no need, Mr. Ch�vez added, for the United States to be >"disturbed" by a foreign policy that he said was aimed at helping >in "the necessary construction of a multipolar world." > >"We are not in times of empire," Mr. Ch�vez also said, and no >country should have to be "dependent on hegemonic centers" of >power. > >He denounced the United States embargo on trade with Cuba and >said the oil pact was "positive for Venezuela from every point of >view." > >Mr. Ch�vez's generosity has clearly had a domestic political >cost, though. Many opposition parties, professional groups and >unions have criticized the pact as a giveaway and argue that the >money helping Cuba would be better spent on schools, sewers, >hospitals, roads and wage increases for Venezuela's 24 million >people. > >Teachers have been striking for higher pay, and doctors and sugar >technicians have reacted negatively to the barter accord, saying >Cuban assistance is not needed. > >"If there is money to give to Cuba, then there must also be money >to give to the workers," Federico Ram�rez Le�n, president of the >largest labor federation, said at a protest march here last week. > > > > > > >-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> >eLerts >It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! >http://click.egroups.com/1/9699/15/_/_/_/972971521/ >---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> > >Post comments to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Send an email to subscribe: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe from this CubaNews group, send an email to: > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
