Caribbean rulers criticize US sanctions on Venezuela

Heads of government of Caribbean countries on Friday denounced US economic sanctions on Venezuela, which they say have forced them to buy more expensive oil elsewhere.

Members of the Caribbean trading bloc Caricom have called for the lifting of sanctions, which prevent them from buying oil at reduced prices as part of a deal with Venezuela called Petrocaribe.

“In the Caribbean we suffered enormously,” Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said after the three-day meeting. “People should be allowed to live, especially in these difficult times.”

Skerrit and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley said the matter was raised with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who attended the summit in Trinidad.

The Petrocaribe agreement, started in 2015 and recently revived, allows Caribbean nations to pay 60% of their oil purchases in three months and defer payments over 25 years with 1% interest.

Countries like Guyana have been allowed to finance some payments with rice and raw materials.

Earlier this year, the Atlantic Council, a US think tank, warned that the Caribbean was in an energy crisis and that its reliance on heavy fuel oil led to high electricity rates.

He noted that the government of President Joe Biden granted a license in January for Trinidad and Tobago to have access to Venezuelan gas to produce liquefied natural gas and clean fuels.

“The region now needs a more secure supply of products,” according to the council.

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