Venezuelan president terms energy cooperation summit in Jamaica as memorable

HAVANA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has described as memorable the PetroCaribe Summit held Tuesday in Montego Bay, north Jamaica, reports reaching here said

Leaders and representatives of 13 Caribbean nations gathered in Montego Bay Tuesday to discuss the PetroCaribe initiative, an energy cooperation agreement launched by Venezuela, and sign bilateral accords with the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

At the opening ceremony of the summit, Chavez said the summit was a good occasion to pay tribute to Simon Bolivar, while commenting on the current value of the Jamaica Letter, written by the Latin American liberator 190 years ago.

"On Sept. 6, 1815, the Liberators left us a guideline for liberty and prosperity, called for unity to cope with hardships and made a call for integration," Chavez said.

He said Venezuela has a set of proposals for putting PetroCaribe into effect "to attain unity, freedom and prosperity" in the region.

PetroCaribe was put forth by the Chavez administration last year to supply oil to Caribbean countries on favorable terms,

The registered countries in PetroCaribe are Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname.