In 2005, the Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement was signed in the city of Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui state, proposed by the then President Hugo Chávez in order to coordinate energy policies that would reduce the existing asymmetries in the region, diversify the energy matrix of the member countries, eliminate the intermediation of transnational corporations and minimize operating costs.
“This energy cooperation agreement proposed by the Bolivarian Revolution, and with the support of all of you, which we are so grateful for, comes precisely from the analysis we have made of the tremendous inequalities in the region. Petrocaribe transcends a simple trade mechanism, for hydrocarbons; it is an integrating mechanism and, beyond, unifying, and, beyond, liberating”, said Commander Hugo Chávez, during his speech at the IV Petrocaribe Summit, in Cienfuegos, Cuba, on December 21, 2007.
Petrocaribe is an initiative signed by 18 nations with common needs, based on fair and equitable access to hydrocarbon resources, and on the principles of solidarity, complementarity, respect and self-determination of Latin American and Caribbean peoples.
“Now it is up to us to make the dream of the Liberator Simón Bolívar in the Charter of Jamaica (…) Petrocaribe is the base for the construction of a new independence in Latin America and the Caribbean”, said the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, during the X Mechanism Summit, held in Jamaica on September 5, 2015.
The signatory countries of this Energy Cooperation Agreement are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, El Salvador, Granada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Petrocaribe has brought integration and complementarity in the field of health, infrastructure, electricity and education to its member countries.
Relaunch of Petrocaribe
“We have seen the birth of Petrocaribe and the commitment we have, which we are going to fulfill, to revive Petrocaribe this year. The steps have already been taken and the methods have been discussed”, said President Nicolás Maduro, during the videoconference with the Heads of State and Prime Ministers that make up the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), on June 10.
The Head of State emphasized the strength of this energy cooperation mechanism, which has managed to go on despite the persecution and permanent blockade imposed by the United States Government against Venezuela.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ratifies its commitment to relaunching this energy cooperation mechanism and with the peoples of the Caribbean to continue articulating mechanisms under the principles of solidarity, brotherhood and complementarity.