Castro visits Chávez; away 1st time since '03

Cuban leader Fidel Castro made a surprise visit to Venezuela Tuesday for what he described on arrival as an ''historic encounter'' with his top ally, President Hugo Chávez, and Caribbean leaders in his fourth trip to Venezuela since 1999 and his first outside of Cuba since late 2003.

Venezuelan state television showed Castro arriving at the Caribbean port of Puerto La Cruz aboard a Cubana de Aviación jetliner, wearing his traditional olive green fatigues, as the leftist-populist Chávez waited for him.

Although rumors of a Castro visit to Venezuela had been making the rounds in Caracas for several days, Chávez earlier had said that Cuba would be represented by Vice President Carlos Lage at the launch today of Petrocaribe, Chávez proposal for a regional energy agreement.

Venezuelan information minister Andres Izarra was even forced to issue an apology to the press after accusing them Tuesday morning of reporting false ''rumors'' of the Castro visit.

Describing the energy summit as ''an historic encounter,'' Castro said he had decided to attend at the last minute, after feeling ``embarrassment that it might seem I wasn't coming because I had too much work.''

He added: ``Everything else is secondary -- for me, Venezuela and the Venezuelans come first, which also means the struggle for my country, the Caribbean [and] the peoples of Latin America.''

The visit is unpopular with anti-Chávez groups, who have accused Cuba of interference in local affairs.

They are particularly incensed at the recent choice of Castro as patron of a class of Venezuelan officer-graduates.

Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves in the western hemisphere, already provides more than 80,000 barrels a day to Cuba and large quantities to other Caribbean nations under highly advantageous financial terms.

The Chávez aid has helped Cuba continue to recover from its economic collapse following the end of Soviet subsidies in the early 1990s.

Chávez said the two-day summit would ''deepen'' the energy relationship with the Caribbean by setting up an ''energy arc'' that would help protect member nations from the ''squandering'' of resources by rich countries.

Chávez also is working to create Petrosur and Petroamerica, other regional or continental alliances designed to ensure supplies at preferential prices or terms.

Expected to attend the Petrocaribe launch are delegations from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincente and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

It was Castro's fourth visit to Venezuela since Chávez, who considers Castro his political mentor, was first democratically elected in 1998.

Fidel Castro - Cuba

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) walks alongside his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro at Puerto La Cruz's airport, Venezuela June 28, 2005. Castro is in Venezuela to attend the meeting of Caribbean leaders to discuss energy issues. REUTERS/Miraflores Palace/Handout

Cuba's President Fidel Castro, right, speaks with reporters beside his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez upon his arrival to Barcelona's airport Tuesday, June 28, 2005. Castro arrived to attend an oil meeting in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office/Juan Carlos Solorzano)

Oil, politics and Venezuela - Many are wondering how far Chávez will go***President Hugo Chavez lashes out at oil companies, causing alarm bells to ring among foreign investors - .......''The thinking at the time, and I shared it, was that you watched what Chávez actually did rather than listen to what he said,'' said Alex Kazan, an analyst with Bear Sterns, an investment bank. But now, he added, Chávez is backing his rhetoric with actions.

Among his latest actions: an announcement that PDVSA would start paying foreign oil companies in Venezuelan currency, not just U.S. dollars. That means oil firms will be subject to Venezuela's stringent foreign exchange controls, inserting a further element of risk in their business.

.........Only in February, Ali Moshiri, ChevronTexaco's top man for Latin America, told aides to Sen. Richard Lugar, a powerful Indiana Republican who suggested that the United States should reduce its oil dependence on Venezuela, that the U.S. energy relations with Venezuela ''had to be separated from political relations,'' one staffer recalled.

But Exxon Mobil has been critical of the new Venezuelan measures.

''Any time a government begins to exhibit characteristics of not wanting to honor contracts, that's going to cause you a lot of pause with respect to your enthusiasm for putting more money into that particular location,'' Roy Tillerson, the firm's president, told analysts in March.

This week the firm told the Associated Press that ''arbitration remains an option'' if Venezuela does not respect its original contract in its Cerro Negro heavy crude project, although the company would continue to press for a friendly solution.

Many are wondering how far Chávez will go.

Asked if Chávez could simply nationalize the foreign oil companies' assets in Venezuelan assets -- in effect seize the property -- Matthew Simmons, who runs a Houston investment bank specializing in energy, said he had no doubts.

''Oh yes,'' he said. ``In front of our eyes.''***

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.