(21 Dec 2007)
1. Wide of official photo opportunity of leaders at regional petroleum summit
2. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban interim President Raul Castro
3. Castro speaking to (from left to right) Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Haitian President Rene Preval and President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernandez; zoom in on Chavez and Castro
4. Wide of leaders posing for official photo
5. Wide of conference room
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Raul Castro, Interim President of Cuba:
"We believe that this meeting contributes to a further consolidation of this agreement, which is highly beneficial to our nations. Thanks to the solidarity of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Petrocaribe is much more than the fair solution to the serious energy problem faced by small countries that lack their own sources of hydrocarbons."
7. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque (left) and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage (right)
8. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega
9. President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela:
"Petrocaribe goes beyond a simple mechanism of trading hydrocarbons. It is a mechanism that integrates, and beyond that, it unifies and beyond that, it liberates."
11. Cutaway of summit sign
12. Wide of conference room
13. Pull out of Chavez and Castro clapping
14. Truck driving down Cienfuegos street
15. Various of oil refinery that Chavez will reopen
16. Various of houses, known as "petro-houses" donated by Chavez to Cuba, and built of material made from petroleum
STORYLINE:
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez presided on Friday at the opening of the fourth Petrocaribe summit, which was held in Cienfuegos, on the southern coast of Cuba.
Venezuela presented his plan to help smaller countries and counter U.S. influence in Latin America and the Caribbean by offering cheap oil.
Chavez wants to use Venezuela's vast oil reserves to help create a "confederation of republics'' free of U.S. interests, and called on regional leaders to band together against the failed "dictatorship of world capitalism.''
Chavez said on Friday that his plan should go beyond mere financing mechanisms and suggested that some countries repay the oil with social services.
"Petrocaribe goes beyond a simple mechanism of trading hydrocarbons. It is a mechanism that integrates, and beyond that, it unifies and beyond that, it liberates," he said.
Chavez suggested that the summit could pave the way for other countries to repay the oil under plans modelled on Venezuelan agreements with Cuba.
Cuba repays by providing doctors and other health professials who offer free services in impoverished areas of Venezuela.
Raul Castro, Interim President of Cuba, on Friday expressed his appreciation for Venezuela's help.
"We believe that this meeting contributes to a further consolidation of this agreement, which is highly beneficial to our nations. Thanks to the solidarity of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Petrocaribe is much more than the fair solution to the serious energy problem faced by small countries that lack their own sources of hydrocarbons," he said.
Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East and is the fourth-largest supplier of crude to the United States.
Chavez spoke as leaders studied the Petrocaribe pact under which his country provides fuel to countries around the region through long-term, low-interest financing.
With Venezuela's assistance, more than 136 million US dollars in improvements have been made to the refinery, which will employ 1,200 people when fully operational.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
