Capriles vows to end oil handouts

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles reemphasized his commitment to alter energy policy in a press conference on Monday ahead of the October 7 presidential election. Though the challenger to incumbent President Hugo Chávez underlined his commitment to trade blocs and standing agreements, he said all existing trade accords would be reviewed under his presidency. "After January 2013, we will not give away more oil," he said. Venezuela currently provides 242,700b/d of discounted or subsidized oil to Latin American countries through alliances such as Petrocaribe and ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas), which includes countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Bolivia. The initiatives launched by Chávez provide oil financing alternatives or exchange programs for participating countries. In the case of Petrocaribe, nations can pay for part of the costs with agricultural goods or other products. ALBA was created in 2004 as an alternative to NAFTA, when Venezuela began exchanging oil for medical and education services with Cuba. In 2011, the Caribbean island received 96,300b/d of petroleum from Venezuela, according to [Venezuelan state oil company] PDVSA data. In President Chávez's official presidential program, these initiatives are described as part of a foreign policy to "balance the universe," and "achieve world peace." Critics of the policies accuse the Venezuelan president of 'bartering' oil for political support. "The clear foreign policy objective is the cooperation between governments with the same ideological philosophy," María Teresa Romero, a professor of foreign relations at Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV), told BNamericas. Edmundo González, a foreign policy coordinator for the Table for Democratic Unity (MUD) party, told BNamericas that Capriles had no intention of severing relations with signatory nations, but that "the priority is fulfilling the needs of Venezuelans." González emphasized that any action taken would be gradual, as Capriles' main concern was to review all existing treaties to determine their efficacy. Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, imports more than 32,000b/d of petroleum from the US to meet domestic demand, according to the US Energy Information Agency.