Comments on: The Growth of Petrocaribe: A Win for Venezuela Foreign Policy http://www.coha.org/the-growth-of-petrocaribe-a-win-for-venezuela-foreign-policy/ COHA is an NGO specialized in monitoring Latin American and Canadian Relations for more than 30 years... Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:22:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: gustavo coronel http://www.coha.org/the-growth-of-petrocaribe-a-win-for-venezuela-foreign-policy/comment-page-1/#comment-26777 gustavo coronel Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:24:08 +0000 http://www.coha.org/2008/07/the-growth-of-petrocaribe-a-win-for-venezuela-foreign-policy/#comment-26777 Items of contention: "The future could not look brighter for PetroCaribe". Being a Venezuelan organization, the expansion of subsidies to 15 countries adding up to some $400 million per year constitute another tragedy for the country, that witnesses with impotence how prodigal President Chavez is squandering our national resources. "Oil diplomacy is the term used by its critics". No. We the critics mostly use the term "pilfering". Oil policy is far too elegant and to kind a term to describe what this man is doing: buying political loyalties with money that does not belong to him. "There is a shift in the regional balance of power". By mentioning this the author of the note admits that what PetroCaribe really represents is a political power play. Chavez has several others of these "strategies" in progress in Bolivia, Argentina, Nicaragua, even in the U.S. where he subsidizes fueloil and lightbulbs full of dangerous mercury to the U.S. poor (who are 15 times richer than the Venezuelan poor) at the loss for us of some $150 million per year. Items of contention:
“The future could not look brighter for PetroCaribe”. Being a Venezuelan organization, the expansion of subsidies to 15 countries adding up to some $400 million per year constitute another tragedy for the country, that witnesses with impotence how prodigal President Chavez is squandering our national resources.

“Oil diplomacy is the term used by its critics”. No. We the critics mostly use the term “pilfering”. Oil policy is far too elegant and to kind a term to describe what this man is doing: buying political loyalties with money that does not belong to him.

“There is a shift in the regional balance of power”. By mentioning this the author of the note admits that what PetroCaribe really represents is a political power play. Chavez has several others of these “strategies” in progress in Bolivia, Argentina, Nicaragua, even in the U.S. where he subsidizes fueloil and lightbulbs full of dangerous mercury to the U.S. poor (who are 15 times richer than the Venezuelan poor) at the loss for us of some $150 million per year.

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