Caracas.- President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Hugo Chávez described Petrocaribe as a mechanism to free Caribbean countries, during his speech at the opening ceremony of the Third Petrocaribe Summit of Heads of State and/or Government, in Simón Bolívar Hall, headquarters of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

“Petrocaribe comes as a response to the need to build a new space. We are looking for a formula to set us free, to fly like sovereign countries to attain new levels of development, to reach what (Simón) Bolívar called the maximum possible happiness for our peoples,” said the Venezuelan Head of State before his Caribbean and Central American counterparts attending the Third Petrocaribe Summit.

Chávez urged his Caribbean and Central American counterparts to look at history. “If we do not find one single formula, 100 years or 1,000 years shall elapse and the children of our children will continue to live in misery, dependence and poverty” imposed on us by imperialism. The Venezuelan ruler branded imperialism as “the upper phase of capitalism.”

“I am inviting you to take a look into our history, the color of our skin, as the Caribbean history echoes the fight among empires to grasp each other’s conquered spaces,” explained President Chávez, quoting Dominican author and politician Juan Bosch.
 
In this connection, Chávez hailed the efforts made under Petrocaribe and the progress attained over he last two years, since the First Petrocaribe Summit was held in Puerto La Cruz, eastern Anzoátegui state in June 2005.