[NYTr] Raul Castro Says Petrocaribe is Key for Regional Integration
 
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:00:40 -0600 (CST)


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Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles

Raul Castro Says Petrocaribe is Key for Regional Integration

President ChC!vez noted that the reactivation of the oil refinery in 
Cienfuegos is strategic for the benefit of the region.

Cienfuegos, Dec 21 (acn) Cuba's First Vice President, Raul Castro, 
highlighted the importance of Petrocaribe when welcoming delegations to 
the 4th Summit of the regional energy integration project.

Along with Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, the Cuban VP saluted the 
eleven presidents and delegations from all the nations gathered at the 
meeting before reflecting on the world's oil situation.

Raul criticized the world's consumerism which he said has resulted in 
the exhaustion of hydrocarbon resources and climate changes that could 
make whole nations disappear from the earth.

The Cuban VP noted how the desire to win oil control has generated wars 
that still put the world at risk, while warning that the consequences 
of such wasteful patterns are not the only causes for concern but also 
that the industrialized countries are trying to turn Latin American and 
Caribbean countries into consumer societies and predators of Nature.

Raul said that what happened in Bali (at the world conference on 
climate change) clearly demonstrates that there are governments, in 
particular the biggest spendthrift and polluting country of the world 
(U.S), that are not willing save mankind by renouncing the privileges 
they have been arrogating for themselves for centuries.

Faced with this situation, said Raul, a project like Petrocaribe gains 
particular importance as it was designed not only to guarantee energy 
security but also to promote sustainable development in the region.

Cuba's Vice President said Petrocaribe is a determining step towards 
developing integrationist and cooperation efforts in the energy sector.

Cuba will continue to contribute as much as possible to this aim, 
stressed Raul.

Following Raul's words, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who is the 
main promoter of the regional project, spoke to the audience. He noted 
that one of the main objectives of the Summit is the re-inauguration of 
the Camilo Cienfuegos Oil Refinery as a result of a Cuba-Venezuela 
project.

Chavez said the reactivation of the refinery in Cienfuegos, located in 
the central region of Cuba on the southern coast, will contribute 
greatly to the long-term energy security in the region.

He said a fund to finance other projects in the region will be created 
based on studies of the Caribbean countries' potential in terms of 
alternative energy sources such as the sun and wind, among others.

Chavez pointed out that Petrocaribe is symbol of the revolutionary 
concepts of integration and cooperation inherited from America's 
Liberators.

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