Guatemala to sign up to Venezuela's PetroCaribe oil alliance

[Judi Lynn]

volume 14, issue #10 - Friday, August 07, 2009
Guatemala to sign up to Venezuela's PetroCaribe oil alliance

03-06-09 Guatemala will sign up to PetroCaribe, an alliance with regional oil giant Venezuela, at a summit in the Caribbean, the foreign secretary told.

Guatemala last July became the 18th country from South and Central America and the Caribbean to agree to join the alliance, which involves preferential payment conditions in return for Venezuelan oil.

Foreign Secretary Haroldo Rodas said Guatemala would formally sign up at the sixth PetroCaribe summit on June 12 in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The president of Venezuela's energy commission said that Costa Rica would also join the alliance at the summit.
PetroCaribe, which began in 2005, allows for nations to buy oil at market value with only part of the payment needed up front. The remainder can be paid through a 25-year financing agreement on 1 % annual interest.

It also allows for nations to pay part of the cost with other products provided to Venezuela.
Venezuela has proven oil reserves of around 99 bn barrels and is the western hemisphere's largest oil exporter.

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntl93181.htm

[Peace Patriot]

1. Can Latin American countries peacefully get themselves a good oil deal,

through cooperation and diplomacy, without becoming U.S. oil war targets?

That is becoming more and more of a question, as we see this intense disinformation campaign against President Chavez of Venezuela unfold in our hideous corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies. What is the purpose of these lies and psyops against Chavez (and, by implication, against the people who elected him--a profoundly anti-democratic disinformation campaign)?

To tell you the truth, my first thought--my gut reaction--to Guatemala and Costa Rica joining Petrocaribe was: Watch your backs, Colom and Arias! Guatemala lost two hundred thousand Mayan villagers, slaughtered during the Reagan reign of terror, and its "death squadders" are still running round free. A fascist coup--i.e., Honduras (where the president also negotiated cheap oil from Venezuela, among his "great crimes"--that, and raising the minimum wage) is still possible in Guatemala. Costa Rica is less vulnerable, but still. Cheap oil for the poor is not Exxon Mobil's ideal world. And creating the ideal world for U.S.-based oil profiteers is pretty much what U.S. government policy, and war preps (seven new U.S. military bases in Colombia, adjacent to the source of all this oil: Venezuela), are all about.

Maybe we can mend our ways. Maybe we, the people of the U.S.--as opposed to our multinational monsters--can learn from Latin America, not only how to hold transparent elections, but also how to be peaceful and cooperative, and get what we need in a "fair trade" exchange for something they need--instead of slaughtering a hundred thousand people, in one week of bombing, to steal their oil. There's a dream!