PetroCaribe ministerial meeting opens in Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (ACN) -- The regional energy program known as PetroCaribe held its ninth ministerial meeting in Nicaragua on Friday, prior to the summit of heads of state and government of the 18-member cooperation bloc.

The heads of state will hold their meeting on Saturday, with Bolivia as guest country. President Evo Morales is expected to arrive in Managua on Friday, according to the Communications Council, PL news agency reported.


The summit will acknowledge the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez who, in 2005, created the regional energy cooperation bloc, which is made up of Venezuela, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Saint Lucia, Guatemala, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The summit’s agenda includes the issue of commercial compensation which, for Nicaragua, means the increase of its exports of beans, coffee, sugar, meat, cattle and other products in exchange for oil, said the vice-president of Nicaragua’s Albanisa company, Francisco Lopez.