PETROCARIBE UPDATE #31: CHAVEZ TO VISIT DOMINICA

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 000213 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/AND, WHA/EPSC, AND EEB/ESC/IEC CARACAS FOR ANDREW BOWEN SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2017 TAGS: PREL ENRG EPET PGOV PINR VE DO ST XL SUBJECT: PETROCARIBE UPDATE #31: CHAVEZ TO VISIT DOMINICA AND ST. VINCENT REF: A. 06 BRIDGETOWN 2237 ¶B. 06 BRIDGETOWN 1931 Classified By: DCM Mary Ellen T. Gilroy for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Various media report that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will visit Dominica and St. Vincent on February 16 and 17, respectively, to open fuel storage tank facilities. Despite the reality of several logistical and technical setbacks with fuel delivery and storage for the Petrocaribe program, it is likely that the visits will again showcase Chavez as a generous benefactor to the Eastern Caribbean. End Summary. DOMINICA -------------- ¶2. (C) Rhoda Celaire, Dominica's recently appointed MFA Permanent Secretary, told PolOff that she learned of the visit only from reading the previous night's newspaper. Dominica's Ambassador to Venezuela, Lennox Lawrence, told PolOff that he was aware of the visit, but said that only one storage tank, out of a planned total of six, would be completed in time for Chavez's visit. According to the press, the estimated time of completion for the other five storage tanks is at the end of 2007. However, Lawrence predicted that fuel should be delivered within the next month or two and that savings from the Petrocaribe arrangement would be used to significantly reduce energy costs. When PolOff asked PS Celaire about Petrocaribe's cost savings, she answered that she knew of this prediction only through newspaper accounts. To date, Dominica has received only asphalt under the Petrocaribe program. ST. VINCENT -------------- ¶3. (C) The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, is expected to meet with Hugo Chavez in Kingstown on February 17. The objective of the Chavez visit is reported to be the same as the Dominica visit: to open a new fuel storage facility. Post was unable to confirm the date of the Chavez visit due to the inaccessibility of the government staff attending a regional conference. Nevertheless, the reports are likely accurate since the announcement of the visit came from PM Gonsalves himself, at a recent rally for his Unity Labour Party. Storage is not as critical an issue for St. Vincent as it is with Dominica, based on six previous fuel shipments to St. Vincent and the Grenadines under the Petrocaribe program to date. COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) The lack of suitable storage facilities has been one of the key factors in Petrocaribe's slow progress in establishing its delivery system in the Eastern Caribbean. However, slowness does not necessarily translate into failure. Many Eastern Caribbean leaders still give the Petrocaribe program high marks for providing politically and economically expedient handouts, from loans and grants for storage tanks to compacting machines and vehicles. It is likely that the Chavez visits will be less about Petrocaribe's progress and more about marketing the region's preference for Venezuelan-style dollar diplomacy. OURISMAN