President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela presides over oil summit in Cuba

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez presided Friday at the opening of a regional petroleum summit in Cuba, pressing his efforts to counter U.S. influence in Latin America and the Caribbean by offering cheap oil.

Chavez, who wants to use Venezuela’s vast oil reserves to help create a “confederation of republics” free of U.S. interests, called on regional leaders to ban together against the failed “dictatorship of world capitalism.”


Opening the Petrocaribe summit in Cienfuegos, a southern coastal city about 155 miles from Havana, Chavez said his plan should go beyond mere financing mechanisms and suggested that some countries repay the oil with social services.

Chavez on Thursday suggested the summit could pave the way for other countries to repay the oil under plans modeled on Venezuelan agreements with Cuba. Cuba repays by providing doctors and other health professials who offer free services in impoverished areas of Venezuela.

He also called for creating an international fund to promote alternative energy sources.

AP