Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela hopes to gradually sell off its refineries in the US and build a new network of refineries in Latin America as part of his plan to offer allies in the region a stable oil supply.
Chavez also raised the idea of issuing a regional bond to raise funds for social spending as he hosted a summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a leftist bloc and trade group that includes Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
"I proposed that we issue an ALBA bond. I hope that we can do it ... And that we issue it here in Venezuela, like we did with Argentina, and bring in US$1 billion,'' Chavez said, addressing leaders on Sunday on final day of their talks. Chavez said the money acquired would be put in a fund to provide credit for ALBA countries.
Chavez and other leaders signed accords for Venezuela to supply fuel under preferential terms and join up with other countries for cooperative projects in education, telecommunications, mining and other areas.
Chavez said Venezuela will guarantee to supply 100 percent of the energy needs for ALBA members as well as Haiti.
ALBA was created in 2004 by Cuba and Venezuela as a counterproposal to US backed free-trade plans.
Chavez said Venezuela eventually plans to help build a network of refineries in Nicaragua, Haiti, Ecuador, Bolivia and the Dominica, as well as refurbishing Cuba's Cienfuegos refinery, to provide a stable supply of oil -- and the earnings it generates -- to countries in Latin America.
He noted that Venezuela's Citgo Petroleum Corp has seven refineries in the US and said that "part of our plans is to sell those refineries."
Under special oil deals offered by Venezuela, ALBA member states would be able to finance 50 percent of the bill for fuel under low-interest loans and 25 percent of the total bill would go into a special "ALBA Fund" to support local projects through loans, he said.
Leaders also discussed creating an "economic cooperation and investment fund," and Chavez offered a contribution of US$250 million.
Among long-term plans, Chavez proposed to build a petrochemical complex and natural gas plant in Haiti.
Leaders attending included Haitian President Rene Preval, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, plus officials from Uruguay, Ecuador, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Morales raised bitter complaints about the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank body that mediates disputes between governments and foreign investors.
"Governments in Latin America and I think all over the world never win the cases. The transnationals always win," Morales said.
Chavez backed Morales' stance, saying he had never heard of ICSID but that Latin American countries could create their own arbitration body for disputes.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS