Love him or hate him, but you have to like the way he flaunts his oil reserves. The fact that Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves outside of the Mid-east has permitted Hugo Chavez (Venezuela’s President) to do a lot of things which he otherwise wouldn’t have dared. 4th Petrocaribe summit in Cuba marked another such event. There Chavez offered its Caribbean partners to pay for oil in form of goods and services. Epitome of perverted socialism, Chavez also attacked US capitalism and said that Petrocaribe and its member nations were creating a new ‘new geopolitics of oil.” He went on: In spite of the Yankees, our oil and gas will always be at the service, first of Venezuela, and at the same time of our brother nations of Latin American and the Caribbean. The summit was held in the southern city of Cienfuegos, Cuba, and marked an extension in the number of member countries of Petrocaribe. Honduras joined the ranks to bring the total membership of the alliance to 17 nations. The entire concept of Petrocaribe is based upon Venezuela using its oil to increase its influence in the region. Venezuela supplies oil on preferential terms to the Caribbean nations, giving huge subsidies. The Petrocaribe mechanism allows its member countries to defer payment on 40% of the oil that they buy from Venezuela for up to 25 years. On this amount these nations pay interest at a mere 1% annually. Chavez has offered other signatories to become a part of the arrangement that currently exists between Venezuela and Cuba. Every year Cuba pays for its oil by offering free services like teaching and medical in return. Cuba has sent 20,000 doctors and teachers to work off its oil-debt that is estimated at $3billion a year. And of course, Chavez’s visit to Cuba would have been incomplete without meeting his dear and ailing friend Fidel Castro. Before the summit, Venezuelan President spent nearly two and a half hours with Castro. Castro, subsequently, wrote a letter to Chavez, congratulating him on his ‘brilliant’ job in hosting the Petrocaribe summit. The analysts have mixed opinions when it comes to the Petrocaribe initiative. While it is true that several Caribbean nations would be unable to pay for their oil, especially as price of crude hovers around $90 a barrel. The mechanism becomes crucial for relieving their oil-burden and thus simulating economic development in these nations. But there’s a flip side too. Chavez’s generosity is rightly dubbed as an ostensible attempt to spread his leftist ideology in the region. Besides, critics say the deal supplies oil at market prices and is increasing the indebtedness of small Caribbean states. To reiterate: you’ve got to love the way Chavez uses his resources. It ain’t easy to trash America. Via