Castro backs energy union initiative at Caribbean oil summit

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has expressed full backing for an energy union at an oil summit attended Wednesday by the 15 Caribbean nations.

"The union of countries and the integration could make feasible a solution to the energy problem," Castro told the summit hosted by Venezuela in the northeastern city of Puerto la Cruz.

He said he has official reports indicating that oil prices could reach a record high at 150-200 US dollars in the future.

"Who in the Caribbean will be able to pay price above 100 dollars for a barrel of petroleum? Only the United States, the country that knows about the debacle in energy reserves," he warned.

The Cuban leader accused the United States of persisting in the "crazy war" in Iraq in a bid to get hold of 40 oil wells operating in the Arab country, as part of a plan to cope with future energy crises.

Castro arrived Tuesday in Puerto la Cruz, 300 km east of Caracas, to participate in the first Summit of the Caribbean on Energy, where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched an energy alliance known as the Petrocaribe initiative.

Chavez promised preferential oil prices for the 15 Caribbean members. Venezuela will pick up 40 percent of the cost if oil tops 50 dollars a barrel, and should it hit 100 dollars a barrel, the oil-rich country "would pay 50 percent for signatory countries," he said.

Source: Xinhua