US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO4041

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 004041 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/AND, WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, EB, 
EB/ESC/IEC/EPC, INR; NSC FOR SHANNON; USCINCSO ALSO FOR 
POLAD; TREASURY FOR OASIA:MWAFER 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG, PREL, DR, EFIN 
SUBJECT: DOMINICANS INVITED TO SIGN PETROCARIBE ACCORD BY 
AUGUST 23 
 
REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 03443 
     B. SANTO DOMINGO 3408 
     C. SANTO DOMINGO 3121 
 
1.  (U)  Venezuelan ambassador Francisco Belisario Landis 
told the press on August 16 that he had delivered to the 
Dominican MFA copies in English and Spanish of the 
"Petrocaribe" agreement, with an invitation to come to 
Caracas by August 23 for a signing ceremony.  He was emphatic 
about Venezuela's intentions:  "Where are there any 
obstacles, what are the difficulties with deciding, yes or 
no, whether to bring the Dominican Republic into Petrocaribe? 
 This documentation shows the will of the government of 
Venezuela, its positive attitude for incoporating the 
Dominican republic into this process called 'Petrocaribe.'" 
His comments responded in part to press play of a televised 
interview the previous evening with national refinery 
director Aristides Fernandez Zucco, who had commented that 
Petrocaribe "was designed for poor countries, not for the 
Dominican Republic." 
 
2.  (U)  On August 11 in an emotional extempore address to a 
business group in La Romana, President Fernandez said that 
the high price of petroleum meant that the Dominican Republic 
is "almost drowning."  He said that he would send 
presidential chief of staff Danilo Medina to Caracas shortly 
to urge that the Petrocaribe arrangement be activated as soon 
as possible. On Monday, August 15, presidential press 
director Rafael Nunez confirmed the plan to send Medina along 
with Industry and Commerce Minister Javier Garcia to Caracas. 
 Nunez said that Fernandez had telephoned Chavez during the 
weekend. 
 
3. (SBU) Labor Minister Jose Ramon Fadul told Charge and 
USAID officers on August 17 that when Industry and Commerce 
Minister Javier Garcia had last spoken with Venezuelan 
counterparts, they had commented that the Dominican Republic 
did not really fit the criteria for Petrocaribe.  That was 
probably the observation that motivated Fernandez Zucco's 
remarks, as well as the rumor picked up by WHA/AND that 
Venezuela might be establishing a political link of some type 
between PETROCARIBE admission and CAFTA ratification.  Note 
that in none of these contacts, private or public, has there 
been any mention of a possible linkage between the two. 
 
4. (SBU)  Embassy's FCS office obtained a copy of the 
proposed Petrocaribe text from MFA contacts on August 19; the 
scanned text has been sent electronically to WHA/CAR 
(Searby), WHA/AND (McIsaac), EB/ESC/IEC/EPC (McManus) and to 
INR (Ben-Yehuda). 
MEIGS