And Belize is sourcing expensive fuel from Houston - because the supply from Petrocaribe had become unstable - due to domestic problems in Venezuela. That's why the government said it was forced to pull out of the program recently. The Leader of the opposition says he doesn't buy it - he said that the Government squandered its opportunity:
Hon. John Briceno - Leader of the Opposition
"They could say whatever it is that they want. The fact of the matter is that the Venezuelan Government has not been happy with how this Government has been spending the Petrocaribe monies. I signed that agreement in 2006, in Kingston - no, in Jamaica, I think Montego Bay, along with the late president Chavez. And the whole concept behind Petrocaribe was that here Venezuela felt that they have all this larges, that they've blessed with this petroleum, and they wanted to assist the region, Belize being one of the countries in the region. And the sole purpose behind this was to fight poverty, to reduce poverty. And the Venezuelan Government, as I have been made to understand, they have not been pleased, because they have seen the reckless spending. They have seen the abuse of these monies. It is really a sad state of affairs that the Government, that the United Democratic Government saw it fit to spend 42 million dollars on a basketball court, and not to spend that 42 million dollars on the people. They are dressing us up, to look pretty, and we are hungry, we don't have job, we don't have work, and we are angry."
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