Oil plan: Hugo Chavez
Chavez tees up Caribbean deal
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is to meet officials from 13 Caribbean nations to agree terms for supplying them with cheap oil.
Chavez launched the Petrocaribe initiative in June and the talks in Montego Bay, Jamaica are intended to put the finishing touches to the plan.
Venezuela's Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said one of the ideas under discussion at the meeting was the creation of a joint venture between the Venezuelan state oil company and energy outfits from the Caribbean.
The talks are being attended by representatives of Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Surinam, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Two countries - Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago - have declined to join the agreement at present.
Chavez has denied using oil to secure political influence in the Caribbean.