As a result of the recent Petrocaribe group meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, headed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the Dominican Republic will receive a respite from the current oil crisis. According to El Caribe and other papers, the DR will be able to purchase oil at the market price, and finance the better part of the transaction over 25 years at 1% interest. The announcement was made by Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson at the start of the Caribbean summit convening in Kingston. The summit is being attended by not only Hugo Chavez, but also Fidel Castro and all the other Caribbean heads of state or heads of government. Another interesting aspect of the agreement proposed by Chavez is the fact that the oil can be bartered, paid for in bananas, sugar, or rice, or some other currency. Venezuela is also willing to lend its expertise in expanding oil refining installations in the other Caribbean nations. Venezuelan petroleum minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters that Venezuela is also willing to come to the assistance of any of the Central American nations that is interested is such a deal. Perhaps in response to reports that the oil sales under the Petrocaribe agreement were somehow tied to political persuasions – as was reported by Bernardo Vega recently – Prime Minister Patterson said that “there are no political conditions imposed” in the oil purchasing agreements.
For his part, Dominican President Leonel Fernandez told the ministers and heads of state that the current oil crisis could only get worse, and that smaller nations needed to look into alternative energy sources for electricity.