From NACLA
Continuing his courtship of Latin America, President Hugo Chávez has introduced a bevy of energy proposals over the past months aimed at uniting a region where historical rivalries and economic necessity often trump sound long-term foreign policy. Whether Chávez's Alternativa Bolivariana para las Americas (ALBA) indeed offers a sound alternative to the U.S.-backed FTAA remains to be seen, but the Venezuelan President has successfully made his case throughout the region by introducing initiatives tailored for each audience.At a June summit of Caribbean leaders in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, Chávez proposed the formation of PetroCaribe, "a body aimed at facilitating the development of energy policies and plans for the integration of the nations of the Caribbean," according to the text of the initiative. Under the program, non-oil producing Caribbean countries would improve their preferential access to Venezuelan crude originally established by the San José accord of 1980 and the Caracas Agreement of 2001. Once implemented, PetroCaribe would subsidize oil purchases relative to the market price: the higher the price, the larger the discount. Costs related to oil exploration, extracton and distribution would also be subsidized by Caracas.
In the Southern Cone, Chávez and President Néstor Kirchner signed an agreement in September 2004 giving birth to PetroSur. Leaders of the five Andean countries took steps toward enacting PetroAndina in July 2005, with Chávez hoping for final ratification this December. Both PetroSur and PetroAndina offer incentives similar to PetroCaribe. Together, the three regional programs would fall under the umbrella of PetroAmérica, a consortium of all state-owned energy enterprises in Latin America.
