Belize signs on to regional oil pact

While the attention was focused this week on the visit of Mexican President Vicente Fox and talk of a possible PEMEX gas station in Belize, the Minister Responsible for Energy, Vildo Marin, was in Venezuela attending a petroleum summit convened by President Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan President, President of Cuba Fidel Castro, and delegations from other Caribbean countries signed an accord to create PetroCaribe, a regional oil company. Chavez, whose country is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter, is touting PetroCaribe as a means for lowering energy costs by cutting out middle men and lessen the region’s dependence on the United States. Among the other countries which attended the meeting in Venezuela were Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. It is not clear how Belize will be able to benefit from the new agreement.