Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived in the island nation, after flying directly from Qatar. In Jamaica, he’ll be meeting with Caribbean leader Saturday for a summit of the oil bloc PetroCaribe.

“We are constructing a multicentric and multipolar world,” said Maduro during brief statemtns after arriving to Montego Bay, to the northeast of Jamaica’s capital Kingston. “PetroCaribe is the foundation for the construction of a new independence in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

The meeting in Jamaica will focus on examining the process PetroCaribe has made in improving access to energy in the Caribbean region, and formulating new strategies for how to expand the project in the future. According to a summit schedule obtained by teleSUR, the meeting will also include discussions on reducing hunger and poverty in the Caribbean, along with boosting ties between member states.

PetroCaribe was the brainchild of Madur’o predecessor Hugo Chavez, who understood that social and economic development in lower income countries of the region was hindered by the need to spend on an indispensable resource – oil.

The Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement was formally constituted on June 29, 2005, and signed by 14 countries. The initiative aims to reduce the socioeconomic inequality through financial solidarity and cooperation.

Fulfilling regional energy needs

In order to address structural inequalities, PetroCaribe signed an agreement with Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) in order to establish the Alba Caribbean Fund as a mechanism to promote social economic development projects in the member states.

The PetroCaribe alliance also provides member countries Venezuelan oil at low interest rates and with a long-term payment plan. The preferential reimbursement plan allows government to reduce immediate spending on energy in order to invest in social services such as education, health and development projects.

According to a 2014 report published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the PetroCaribe initiative has provided the Caribbean Community countries with financing for oil purchases worth about 3.5% of sub regional GDP and about 6% of GDP for the small islands of the Economic Union of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

IMAGE: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (middle) sits among the heads of state members of the regional bloc. | Photo: teleSUR Correspondent Rolando Seguro
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