I want to highlight a couple of items that reflect how the Castro-Chavez alliance is squandering Venezuela’s oil revenue in order to to sow their ideological seed. I was really concerned when I first saw this article showing that Cuba is exporting its “doctors” to, of late, politically tumultuous Belize. I’m even more concerned reading that Belize will be signing on to PetroCaribe, the much hyped oil company formed by Hugo Chavez.

While the attention was focused this week on the visit of Mexican President Vicente Fox and talk of a possible PEMEX gas station in Belize, the Minister Responsible for Energy, Vildo Marin, was in Venezuela attending a petroleum summit convened by President Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan President, President of Cuba Fidel Castro, and delegations from other Caribbean countries signed an accord to create PetroCaribe, a regional oil company. Chavez, whose country is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter, is touting PetroCaribe as a means for lowering energy costs by cutting out middle men and lessen the region’s dependence on the United States. Among the other countries which attended the meeting in Venezuela were Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. It is not clear how Belize will be able to benefit from the new agreement.

Of course, cutting out the middle man and decreasing dependence on the United States is bogus. The Venezuelan state owns the oil, and since Hugo Chavez is making himself the state, the oil prices will be whatever he wants them to be. In the long term, it means that these countries will become economically dependent on him, which is, in itself, a terrible thing politically. Secondly, it means that Venezuelan oil revenues may take a loss simply so Chavez can increase his influence whereas normal Venezuelans will suffer. More on this use of “oil diplomacy” from the Times:

OIL-RICH Venezuela is to sell cheap fuel to 13 Caribbean nations, in what analysts say is part of President Ch????vez????????s left-wing challenge to American and European influence in the region.

The announcement came at the end of a two-day summit in Venezuela where Se????or Ch????vez pledged to create an ???????energy alliance??????? to protect small Caribbean islands from the ???????squandering??????? of oil resources by wealthy nations.

The PetroCaribe energy pact will mean large savings for small Caribbean islands that are struggling to cope with soaring world oil prices and which feel neglected by traditional allies such as Britain and the US. Under the plan, Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, will pick up 40 per cent of the cost if oil is selling at more than $50 a barrel. Venezuela promised further concessions, should prices hit $100.

Venezuela is putting $50 million into a start-up fund, and Petroleos de Venezuela announced that it would also pay for oil shipment costs and help to construct storage facilities throughout the region.

Trinidad and Tobago, an oil and gas producer, declined to join, noting that the deal could undercut its own oil shipments. Barbados also opted out, but countries such as Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas welcomed the pact.
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Analysts say that the plan is part of an effort by Se????or Ch????vez to use ???????oil diplomacy??????? to win international support for his left-wing revolutionary movement. PetroCaribe potentially assures him of a new bloc of votes at forums such as the UN and the Organisation of American States.

Se????or Ch????vez????????s wooing of the Caribbean is also part of his ???????anti-imperialist??????? strategy to turn the continent away from traditional US influence. Se????or Ch????vez is also promoting a regional oil pact in South America called PetroSur, as well as a continent-wide Spanish- language TV news station, TeleSur, to go on air this month as a rival to CNN.

While Se????or Ch????vez????????s generosity may win friends in the region, domestic critics say the country cannot afford such largesse. Despite enormous social spending in Venezuela during the past six years under Se????or Ch????vez, the percentage of Venezuelans living below the poverty line has risen from 43 to 54, according to government data.

Chavez is perhaps that greatest threat to democracy, stability, and development in the Americas. He has a seemingly limitless, cheap source of revenue to fund his ideological temper tantrum and the man in Havana to keep warm at night. While most of the twenty-four hour news is focused on Aruba, perhaps we should be looking further south as this maniac continues to export things beside oil closer to our country.