Latin America and the Caribbean Move towards Energy Security

Caracas, 13 May. AVN .- One of the main issues analyzed during a meeting of the people responsible for the ‘energy area’ in the Countries of Latin America and Caribbean, was the construction of an institution in order to carry out proposals made within energy security, stated the Venezuelan Energy and Oil minister Rafael Ramirez.

The meeting, which was held in a hotel in Caracas, is part of the preliminary meetings to create a framework for the Third Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development (CALC) that will take place in Venezuela on July 5th.

“Energy security includes a reliable and direct supply; for this reason, there are proposals to create mixed ventures in which each country can manage its own resources without intermediaries creating so much speculation in the international oil market. We have progressed a lot in this matter in the Caribbean and in the South,” Ramirez explained.

In the first meeting, it was decided what topics will be discussed during the ministerial meeting this Friday, when the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister, Nicolas Maduro, is expected to attend.

From Friday’s meeting, a series of proposals will be put forward and then debated over by Heads of State next July during the Third CALC Summit.

“Solidarity, complementarity, energy security and asymmetries were the main themes discussed on Thursday,” he added

Ramirez stated that ministers also debated over energy cooperation, since the countries in the meeting are also part of Petrocaribe and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and proposals have been made to make the two blocs work in the same direction.

The Venezuelan minister recalled that as well as Petrocaribe, Venezuela has alliances in 8 mixed ventures in the Caribbean and is participating in the South in diverse natural gas, oil and fuel projects with Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia.

“We have reached some progress in a bilateral way, but we think that this is an extraordinary proposal because we are holding talks with countries with common problems and we are building a fundamental bloc so as to give support to the socio-economic development of our nations,” he added.

Ramirez highlighted that Latin America and the Caribbean have become one of the regions in the world with strong hydrocarbon reserves, “which will be very important for  planning in the next few years.”