[R-G] Chávez presides over oil summit in Cuba

[Anthony Fenton]

Venezuela's Chávez presides over oil summit in Cuba
Chávez offers to trade oil for good and services from Venezuela's  
neighbors.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/ 
12/22/1222cubachavez.html

By Anita Snow
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, December 22, 2007

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba — Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez presided at a  
regional petroleum summit in Cuba on Friday, pressing his efforts to  
counter U.S. influence in Latin America and the Caribbean by  
suggesting that more of his neighbors could pay for Venezuelan oil  
with goods or services instead of cash.

In his opening speech to the Petrocaribe summit in Cienfuegos, about  
155 miles from Havana, Chávez said his plan to provide low-cost oil  
to the region should go beyond financing mechanisms. He offered other  
countries the option of following the model of Cuba, which pays by  
sending doctors to Venezuela to offer free services to the poor.

Providing fuel in return for locally produced goods or services is an  
option under Venezuela's current Petrocaribe pact, which supplies oil  
to the region through long-term, low-interest financing. But it is  
unclear how many countries have taken up the offer.

Additionally, Chávez called for the creation of an international fund  
to promote solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative energy sources.

"Despite the Yankees, our gas is at the service of Venezuela first,  
and next to our brothers in the Caribbean," Chávez said, referring to  
the United States.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East. It is  
South America's largest oil exporter and the fourth-largest supplier  
of crude oil to the United States.

Chávez said Petrocaribe members' collective debt for Venezuelan oil  
is near $1.2 billion and is expected to grow to $4.5 billion by 2010.  
He is promoting Petrocaribe as part of a larger effort to create a  
regional confederation from Argentina to Cuba that will help the area  
counter U.S. influence.

Chávez blasted Washington's proposals for free trade pacts and called  
on regional leaders to band together against what he called the  
failed "dictatorship of world capitalism."

Chávez paid tribute to his ally Fidel Castro, who before falling ill  
had been the central figure at such regional events.

Castro, 81, has not been seen in public since he ceded power to his  
younger brother Raul after emergency intestinal surgery a year and a  
half ago. But Chávez met behind closed doors with him for "an  
emotional" 21/2 hours Thursday, official media said.

Fidel Castro reportedly sent Chávez a note Friday saying that the  
Venezuelan president "has been brilliant, and not only in opening  
remarks, but also during the meeting."