What was Petrocaribe? A program promoted by dictator Hugo Chávez that began in 2005 and consisted of the sale of oil under preferential conditions to benefit 17 Caribbean and Central American countries.
An alliance created for strictly political purposes rather than as help since Hugo Chávez, followed by the inept Nicolás Maduro, became a real threat to democracy in the region and the cause of the economic annihilation of Venezuela. He needed those poor countries to support him.
What was the program about? First, the sale of the tanker was made between governments, without intermediaries (and who benefited from the freight?). Second, the countries acquired an amount of oil in which 60% was paid for each invoice and the other 40% was financed. Third, the financing was for 15 and 25 years at a rate of 1%. And it was established that this financing could be paid with various goods.
The Dominican Republic could acquire up to a cap of 50,000 barrels of oil per day under said agreement. Reference prices were also established, since if oil fell to a certain level, then the financing was reduced.
The accumulated debt with Venezuela for this oil reached US$4.1 billion between 2005 and 2015, the year in which the government negotiated its full payment for 48% of its value through a bond issue.
But the million dollar question is what was done with those US$4.1 billion? What projects were financed?
The signed agreement established that these resources would go to mutually agreed investment projects, but in the end they were used in what was convenient for the government in those years, including, of course, distortion in fuel prices for fiscal purposes and the typical proselytizing expenses. and embezzlement that characterized the PLD’s 16 years in power.
Hopefully this government will be encouraged to carry out an audit of Petrocaribe to uncover another pot of crickets and honor the Venezuelan people whose natural resources were depleted by two trashy dictators.
Finally, a payment of US$94 million was pending from that negotiation, of which some US$50 million are still owed.
Petrocaribe was a great abuse against the Venezuelan people, a great business for the beneficiary countries and a granary of corruption that led to the bankruptcy of PDVSA, where Venezuela ended up importing oil.