VENEZUELA'S Chavez and EL SALVADOR'S Funes Discuss Cooperation

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"Venezuela’s Chavez and El Salvador’s Funes Discuss Cooperation

May 20th 2009, by Tamara Pearson – Venezuelanalysis.com

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (at left) with El Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes (at center right) on Tuesday (ABN)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (at left) with El Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes (at center right) on Tuesday (ABN)

Mérida, May 20th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- Mauricio Funes, the president-elect of El Salvador, made a formal visit to Venezuela to meet with President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday. In a meeting that lasted more than five hours, the two leaders discussed deepening cooperation between the two countries, especially regarding oil.

Funes won El Salvador's presidential elections on March 15th of this year as a Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) candidate with 51.3% of the vote, and will become the new president on June 1st. Funes's victory follows more than twenty years of right-wing government in El Salvador.

Funes's critics have said his presidency will be heavily influenced by Venezuela, while Funes has emphasized that "integration with Central America and strengthening relations with the United States will be the priority of our foreign policy."

After the meeting, the two leaders announced the creation of a bilateral commission between the two countries to develop projects of cooperation in commerce, energy, and other economic sectors, and social exchange.

Funes said his government will prioritize the poor, "the vulnerable, the destitute... those without voice... who need the new government to represent them," and declared that his country will continue to receive Venezuela's cooperation to develop health programs and social projects.

Funes also pledged "to keep the promise that we made and that made it possible for us to triumph in the elections on March 15th, to satisfy social demands not met for so many years and convert ourselves into a government of hope that makes changes and transformations that this country needs, possible."

Another key point of discussion was oil, where the two leaders discussed the possibility of the El Salvadoran state importing it, rather than mayors.

In April 2006 the Venezuelan government signed an agreement with the Inter-Municipal Association of Energy for El Salvador (ENEPASA), an association of 20 FMLN mayors, to start a joint company which would provide oil cheaply to El Salvador. Now, Funes said El Salvador will consider joining the Petrocaribe program through which Venezuela provides oil at below market prices to participating Caribbean countries.

Funes also raised the idea of Venezuela buying more of its raw materials. "Venezuela buys a good part of its agricultural raw materials from Colombia and could instead buy it from El Salvador," he said.

To Chavez, Funes said, "I passionately salute this sentiment of solidarity that you represent and which for the Salvadoran situation has meant important support in two fundamental areas. First, with petroleum, to the extent that we are a country, as are many in Central America, which doesn't have an essential resource on which to build our economy, like petroleum. Secondly, with health aid, the cooperation that the noble people of Venezuela have given us through Mission Milagro."

Funes said he was visiting Venezuela to "encourage to continue with this spirit of solidarity because only solidarity and the spirit of Latin American unity that is behind it, is going to make the transformation of our nations possible."

Chavez returned the compliments, saying, "A new historical synthesis of a martyr people begins with President Funes," he said.

Funes added, "The opportunities to cooperate that already existed are enhanced because... a long history unites us, but with this new government... the possibilities expand enormously and they have no other limits than what we want to imagine."

For the last month or so, Funes has been meeting with various governments to strengthen cooperation and has met with the presidents of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Central American countries.

El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, has a per capita GDP of $5,800, and is among the 10 poorest countries of Latin America. "
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4456