At a press conference held in Caracas yesterday, President Leonel Fern?ndez revealed the essence of the "new initiative" proposed by the new Venezuelan President, Hugo Rafael Ch?vez Fr?as. Yesterday Fern?ndez hinted to reporters that in a private meeting with the Venezuelan just hours before the latter’s inauguration, Ch?vez had proposed an unspecified "amplification" in the San Jos? Agreement, the long-standing arrangement under which Mexico and Venezuela provide special financing for purchases of their petroleum by Caribbean and Central American nations. According to Fern?ndez, Ch?vez wants to make the DR the central refining point for all Venezuelan oil intended for Caribbean and Central American markets. Venezuelan officials propose increasing the Dominican quota under the San Jos? Agreement (from 15,000 to 25,000 barrels) and helping expand and modernize the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (RDP), the state-owned refinery managed by Texaco and Shell to augment its refining, storage and handling capacities and capabilities. Such investment or assistance presumably would be done with the participation of Venezuela’s state-owned petroleum firm, Petroleos de Venezuela (PETROVEN). Further details of what the Venezuelans have in mind will be revealed when a Dominican delegation travels to Caracas within two weeks to discuss the proposal. The Dominican side in those talks will likely be led by RDP President Francisco Javier Garc?a; the Venezuelan side will be represented by the new Energy and Mines Minister, Al? Rodr?guez Arenque. The Venezuelan proposal, if realized, could be a huge economic boon to the DR, making it in essence the oil refining and transshipment center of the Caribbean Basin.During his inauguration speech yesterday, President Ch?vez referred more than once to his desire to "integrate" Venezuela with the Caribbean along a Caracas-Santo Domingo axis. He also proposed that Latin America and the Caribbean work toward a political, economic and monetary union, ? la the European Union (EU), with even a single currency unit (an idea being championed by Argentine President Carlos Menem in the wake of the Brazilian currency crisis). In his remarks to the press last night, President Fern?ndez voiced his support for the concept of a single regional currency.
