Venezuela deepens island investments
By ANITA SNOW | The Associated Press
December 24, 2007
HAVANA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez headed home this weekend after
deepening his country's investment in communist-run Cuba with new
energy, finance, mining and agricultural agreements.
He drove himself to the airport, honking wildly through the streets of
the eastern city of Santiago as small groups of Cubans cheered him on,
official media reported Sunday.
The midday news on Cuban state television showed interim leader Raul
Castro sitting in the open-top military four-wheel-drive as Chavez drove
to the airport for the flight back home on Saturday night.
The deals include a project to expand an oil refinery in the eastern
city of Santiago and develop the production of petrochemicals on the island.
The 14 agreements were signed Saturday in Santiago, where Chavez was
joined by Raul Castro on a tour of the military barracks that he and his
brother Fidel attacked with a band of armed rebels in 1953, launching
the Cuban revolution.
The Communist Party newspaper Granma quoted Vice President Carlos Lage
as saying that Venezuela and Cuba have now signed more than $7 billion
in deals this year, a figure cited by other officials in recent weeks.
Chavez has continued to expand his oil-rich nation's largesse and
influence across the region through cheap petroleum deals.
During the Santiago tour, Chavez repeatedly mentioned Fidel Castro, his
socialist ally and close friend. Castro, 81, has not been seen in public
since emergency intestinal surgery prompted him to cede power to a
provisional government led by his younger brother Raul in July 2006.
Chavez met privately in Havana with the elder Castro for 2 1/2 hours on
Thursday afternoon.
On Friday, Chavez led a regional oil summit in the southern coastal city
of Cienfuegos, and oversaw the reopening of a nearby Soviet-era refinery
renovated with Venezuelan assistance.
During the summit, Chavez talked up his effort to use discount oil to
build alliances in Latin America and the Caribbean, and diminish U.S.
influence in the region. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside
the Middle East and it is the fourth-largest supplier of crude to the
United States. The South American country sends nearly 100,000 barrels
of subsidized oil a day to Cuba. In exchange, thousands of Cuban doctors
treat poor patients in Venezuela.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flacubavene1224sbdec24,0,526812.story
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