CARCAS_ Haitithe poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean, paid an old debt of 500 million dollars to Venezuela for the supply of oil received through the PetroCaribe program, the Venezuelan regime reported this Friday.
The Venezuelan regime reports “the culmination of the process of recovery and collection of a debt in the amount of 500 million dollars (…) derived from the supply of hydrocarbons from Haiti within the framework of the Petrocaribe Energy Cooperation Agreement,” indicated a statement released by the vice president of Communication, Freddy Náñez.
Between 2008 and 2018, Haiti was part of PetroCaribe, a cooperation mechanism devised by the late Hugo Chávez that allowed several Latin American and Caribbean countries to acquire oil products at advantageous prices and with payment facilities.
“All international financial agencies classified the debt in question as uncollectible, given the complex economic situation and non-payment that Haiti has been experiencing for several years,” the text noted.
In fact, “these agencies had requested condonation, in response to the humanitarian crisis facing the country,” the Caracas statement noted.
Venezuela allocated some $2 billion between 2008 and 2016 from the PetroCaribe fund for aid to Haiti. A court in that country concluded that there was embezzlement of funds by former senior Haitian officials.
Haiti immersed in a humanitarian crisis
Haiti is going through a serious political, humanitarian and security crisis, with armed gangs that control entire areas of the country of some 11 million inhabitants, bordering the Dominican Republic.
The country, where elections have not been held since 2016, has been without a president since the assassination, on July 7, 2021, of Jovenel Moise.
Source: AFP
