President Fernández Arrives in Venezuela for PetroCaribe Summit

Dominican President Leonel Fernández arrived last Saturday to Venezuela to participate in the 5th Extraordinary PetroCaribe Summit to be officially inaugurated on Sunday.

He will also propose the formation of a Petrocaribe block of nations to push for the creation of the so-called Solidarity Oil Fund.

The Dominican Head of State, accompanied by a small delegation of government officials, was received at the airport by the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicolás Maduro Moros, according to a press release from the Presidential Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

The delegation was also made up of the Dominican Ambassador in Venezuela, Jimmy Durán, and other Venezuelan officials.

The President arrived to this Bolivar Republic of Venezuela with the intention of asking his counterpart President Hugo Chávez to provide a quota of 50,000 barrels of oil daily which was agreed upon through the PetroCaribe Agreement.

He will also propose the formation of a Petrocaribe block of nations to push for the creation of the so-called Solidarity Oil Fund.

President Fernández has said in the Dominican Republic and in other international venues and meetings that oil is the basis of the economic crisis being felt around the world today and that it is enemy number one for developing and poor countries.

Prior to the Sunday meeting, Ministers of Energy and Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the 15 countries that make up the block discussed the skyrocketing oil prices and food security issues in the region.

So far, Petrocaribe is comprised of the following countries: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Jamaica, Surinam, Guyana, Granada, Bahamas, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Nicaragua, Honduras and Haiti.

Through this initiative, the government of Venezuela will sell oil and oil derivatives with a 50% payment mechanism and a 90 day invoice. The remainder of the charges will be expected to be repaid over a 25-year period at an annual interest rate of 1%, with a 2-year grace period.

Presidents Leonel Fernández and Hugo Chávez held a bilateral meeting as part of a dinner offered by the host to honor the heads of state who are participating in the summit.