Thursday, January 25, 2007
by Theresa Bradley and Guillermo Parra-Bernal
CARACAS, Venezuela (Bloomberg): Venezuela will grant Cuba access to the
South American nation's first-ever satellite, due to be launched in
September, as ties between the states deepen and the health of Cuban
President Fidel Castro grows more uncertain.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage on
Wednesday signed accords on telecommunications, steel and agriculture,
calling for Venezuela to share use of its new "Simon Bolivar Satellite"
with Cuba and to spend up to 1.1 trillion bolivars ($512 million) to
create a series of joint ventures. The purpose of the satellite wasn't
disclosed.
"Castro's government needs the force and lungs of Chavez to ensure that
Fidel's death has the smallest impact possible," said Luis Vicente Leon,
director of the Caracas political research firm, Datanalisis. "These
accords give the Cuban government oxygen to maintain its connection to
the people and minimize the risk of imbalance, domestic or foreign,
during the transition after Fidel dies."
The Cuban delegation's unexpected visit to Caracas on Wednesday,
announced minutes before Lage and seven ministers appeared outside the
presidential palace with Chavez around noon, comes as an ailing Castro
begins to reap growing rewards from his ties with his Caribbean
neighbour. More than 100,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil, supplied daily
to Cuba at a 40 percent discount, helped fuel 12.5 percent growth in the
island's $60 billion economy in 2006, according to the Cuban government.
"Fidel, in the end, managed to secure not just a good friend in Chavez,
but a good business partner, a guy who'll help prolong his anti-American
legacy and provide resources as well as support," Leon said. "And it's
certainly in Chavez's interest to be sure a leftist government remains
in Cuba."
Chavez has forged a close bond with Castro since he was first elected
president in Venezuela in 1998, modeling his own brand of "21st Century
socialism" on the Caribbean island and praising its leader's actions and
ideas almost daily.
Wednesday's accords also include plans for the two nations to cooperate
on fiber-optic cable projects, build a joint-owned stainless steel
factory and boost Venezuelan nickel imports from Cuba, which contains
the world's second-largest nickel reserve, Venezuelan Mining Minister
Jose Khan said.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000053/005373.htm
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