Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
Posted on 07/16/2008 6:42:38 AM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
The negotiations between Puerto Rico and Venezuela for the purchase of more economical oil remain a mystery.
The respective secretaries of the Department of State and the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO), Fernando Bonilla and Jorge Suárez, have not made public the outcome of that country's visit this past weekend.
"I believe they're being very cautious about not turning this into a fiasco and, therefore, they don't want to reveal the negotiation in case this cannot be accomplished and thus avoid a possible negative damage to the effort[.] That is why there is silence," was the opinion of Angel Rosa, professor of Political Science at the [University of Puerto Rico] Mayagüez Campus.
SHORT-TERM MEASURES
To Rosa, the government is trying to, somehow, take short-term measures to decrease the cost of fuel and pass those savings along to the consumer.
"This is natural, and, moreover, we're close to the elections. This is an issue that raises questions about the political capacity Puerto Rico has for this type of transaction. The only thing Puerto Rico is doing is trying to buy cheaper gasoline and fuel for the Electric Power Authority turbines," Rosa said.
According to the expert, the negotiations are "genuine and perfectly possible", but motivated by politics and the emergency situation caused by the price of fuel.
"These are two genuine avenues, the first because the price of fuel has increased dramatically, and the second because the [governing Popular Democratic Party] wants to win the elections," Rosa maintained.
"WE ARE LATIN AMERICANS"
[Rosa] said the negotiations will depend on the government's success in convincing Venezuela. "I think the most powerful argument is that we Puerto Ricans are Latin Americans, that we are suffering from this oil crisis, and to benefit the Puerto Ricans is to do good to a Latin American country such as Venezuela," he stated.
He explained that DACO is replacing private intermediaries without any interest in profit in order to pass along the savings at the pump from the preferential price it secures.
The Governor confirmed last week that Bonilla and Suárez will visit Venezuela during the weekend to participate in a meeting with Petrocaribe. Through their [respective] press secretaries, both officials have said they are making no statements about the issue.
Petrocaribe is an initiative by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to allow Caribbean countries to buy up to 185,000 barrels of oil per day at preferential prices through an Energy Cooperation Agreement.
ping
Negotiating with Chávez’s government? Talk about playing with fire!
hey!
they can have pr.
who cares?
no 51st democrat state for us.
Good.. let’s kick PR out of our country.
OK, but we keep Vieques as a firing range....
Too late. We shut that down several years ago.
Uh, isn’t Puerto Rico a U.S. Territory, under authority of the U.S. govnerment?
They want to kiss Chavez’s ass?
Let them have their freedom from the US, then.
Remove all the welfare and subsidies they receive, now!
Give Puerto Ricans in this country the choice of remaining US citizens or a free trip to the new marxist paradise.
Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
We re-open it by surprise then. ;-)
2. PR will never be "owned" by any other country.
3. PR is the home of the real headquarters of the IRS. It is also incorporated in PR.
Great, now where am I going to get my Mofongo from?
the irs is incorporated in pr?
where’s your source?
that’s rich!
Nah, far better that the Navy washed its hands of Puerto Rico entirely. The surprise for them was that when they closed down Vieques, that left the base at Roosevelt Roads without any real purpose so they closed that down, too. Much to the dismay of those who had been demanding an end to the live fire range. I guess they didn’t connect the dots.
Really? I don’t recall that, but that must’ve burnt a few backsides.
IIRC a couple of Kennedys and the usual cast of characters held demonstrations down there. For what? I guess to keep the money coming into the area but keep the military out. That’s logical thinking for those looking for handouts all the time.
Oh yeah. It fell under the 'beware of what you wish for' category. The very same people demanding the shutting of Vieques were suddenly up in arms over the job losses when Roosevelt Roads shut down.
That’s right. I don’t know, however, how much power the island has to do this type of negotiating without the intervention of the federal government.
This is all election year posturing. The PR Electric Power Authority has always been able to buy fuel from all over the world. However, the EPA told it that the Venezuelan fuel was too dirty and they can’t use that anymore.
Also, the PR goverment owns no refineries, so how the heck do they expect to “lower the price at the gasoline pump” by buying Venezuelan oil? If PR buys Venezuelan oil, they would just have to sell it to Gulf Caribe or to Sunoco for refining, no?
Again, this is all hogwash.
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