The Petrocaribe fund, it's the ultimate political war chest, paying for everything from your paved street, to the seed capital at the National Bank, to new sports facilities….and someday, it may even be used to buy back some of the Superbond debt.
With all that, the Barrow Administration is eternally indebted to the Venezuelans. Hugo Chavez himself first put the agreement on the table in 2005 - but it was never fully operationalized. But since September of 2012, it has been maximized under a new arrangement worked out by the Barrow administration. So that every drop of premium, diesel, or regular fuel that comes into the country is from Venezuela, and every time you buy gas, whether you know it or not, you contribute to the fund.
For sure, Petrocaribe is big, over 150 million in the consolidated revenue fund attests to that - and today Government celebrated its dip0lomatic history with the Venezuelans by opening a local office. 7News was there:...
Jules Vasquez reporting
Petrocaribe now has an office in Belize - the Venezuelan ambassador and the prime minister cut the ribbon today:
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"The opening of the Apbel office today is of course a brick and mortar testament to the importance for Belize of Petrocaribe."
But no one knows for sure what will be done at the fairly plush executive suites, since it seems that the main job of the Petrocaribe Initiative is to count money - millions of dollars every month that just keep coming in.
John Mencias, Deputy Chairman - Apbel
"After roughly 19 months of being in operation we have so far brought into the country of Belize at the disposal of the Government of Belize over 190 million dollars through the Petrocaribe agreement."
APBEL, the Alba Petro-Caribe Belize Energy Limited, is the local company formed to carry out the business and logistics of the initiative in Belize.
That business is to bring in fuel sold directly at world market prices from Venezuela to Belize, distribute it through PUMA and pay only 40% immediately, with the other 60% on concessionary terms over 25 years at an interest rate of 1%.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"One percent over 25 years is almost like a gift. There is a 2 year grace period, so we will be paying it as we go along, but you simply can't do better than that."
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I don't think there is another country in the world that has gone as far as Venezuela in terms of making resources possible and specifying that those resources ought to be used specifically to transform the relationship of the people, help the poor, but Venezuela is giving until it hurts and for that I really want to thank them."
And today's event was to thank them by celebrating 25 years of diplomatic relations, enough for a wine toast - and the promise of who knows what else:
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"This is only a small part of it. There is much more to come depending on whether we have the stomach for it."
But what the Venezuelans may not have the stomach for is a multinational like PUMA profiteering off a social initiative:
John Mencias, Deputy Chairman - Apbel
"It is very important that people understand the important role that PUMA plays. Because of them we have been able to multiply the amount of financing that we've gotten under the agreement more than 10 fold than in the past because through PUMA we've been able to serve the entire market in Belize."
Jules Vasquez
"But a significant of the pump price are those build up fees that are paid to PUMA, a multi-national and a capitalist organization. So everyone is operating for the social good while the capitalist is enriched. Isn't it inimical?"
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"You won't draw me out in scaring off PUMA you know, but I will say that the notion of government in fact taking over the importation and the distribution of the petroleum products has been muted. The time might come when government might want to look at in fact taking over the importation and distribution of fuel, but that time is not now and I don't see it happening anywhere in the near future."
But for the present, government is happy to use the money for a host of initiatives:
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"I won't go into all the details of all the ways government is putting the Petrocaribe flows to excellent use, but the 2 most obvious are of course the funding of the National Bank and the huge infrastructure drive that is creating thousands of jobs countrywide and providing visible physical quality of life uplift."
And as long as he can trade on the Chavissmo initiative for local political capital, the Prime Minister is happy to sit in Chavez's shadow and say que viva:
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"Lone live Venezuela, long live Belize. Que viva Venezuela, que viva Belize."
Between September 2012 and March 2014, 1.4 million barrels valued at 180 million US Dollars have been received from Venezuela.
You can find out more about how the fund is operated in Belize at their local website, which you can find a link to at 7newsbelize.com
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