• Submitted by: admin
• Caribbean
• culture an traditions
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• Havana
• history
• international
• Business and Economy
• Politics and Government
• 08 / 13 / 2008

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Lomas made the remarks in Havana at the first meeting of the Technical Executive Secretariat of Petrocaribe's recently created Council of Agriculture Ministers.

Made up of Nicaragua, Honduras, Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba, the council works on behalf of PetroCaribe's 18 member states.

The participants analyzed the constituent documents of the council, and discussed the design and recommendation of a food security treaty, as well as the establishment of mechanisms to manage an oil fund created within the framework of the PetroCaribe initiative.

This meeting comes about a month after the 5th PetroCaribe Summit in Venezuela, where member nations agreed to start an oil fund to boost food production and combat food shortage, Lomas said.

PetroCaribe is an initiative launched in 2005 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, which allows member nations to buy Venezuelan oil on preferential terms.

Part of the alliance's resources are allocated for the creation and implementation of social development programs.
    
(ACN)