Petrocaribe deal slow to take effect

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – One year after 13 Caribbean countries signed a deal with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to buy oil under preferential terms, a majority of them have not received a single drop of fuel, while those that have are still paying high prices at the pump.

Cash-strapped Caribbean countries have welcomed the pact known as Petrocaribe as a way to counter soaring oil prices. But eight nations say they haven’t gotten fuel shipments yet, largely because they’re figuring out how to handle them.

The program has gotten bogged down because many governments don’t have state-owned docking or storage facilities, or the know-how of running an oil business