DEFERRED PAYMENTS, LOW INTEREST
Petrocaribe allows members to defer payment on 40 percent of their Venezuelan oil bill for up to 25 years, with interest of only 1 percent.
Critics say the deal supplies oil at market prices and is increasing the indebtedness of small Caribbean states.
Billboards featuring Chavez and ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro greeted the Venezuelan president in Cienfuegos, a port city 160 miles (256 km) southwest of Havana. Castro has not appeared in public since falling ill in mid-2006. His brother and acting Cuban President Raul Castro co-hosted the summit.
Chavez has helped Cuba's economically battered economy stay afloat with 92,000 barrels per day of crude oil paid for by the medical services of Cuban doctors treating Venezuela's poor.
In addition, Cuba has started receiving crude shipments for the 65,000-bpd Cienfuegos refinery, a joint venture between Cuban state oil company CUPET and Venezuelan counterpart PDVSA, which has invested $166 million in restarting the plant.
The refinery was mothballed 12 years ago after the Soviet Union collapsed, depriving Cuba of subsidized oil supplies and technology and plunging it into a deep economic crisis.
The Cienfuegos refinery will produce fuel oil, diesel, gasoline and jet fuel for the Cuban domestic market and for export to Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras and Haiti.
At its opening, Chavez said Petrocaribe planned to build 10 refineries and refurbish another eight at a cost of $22 billion over the next 10 years to cover the region's supply of refined products.
Raul Castro, running Cuba since his brother underwent stomach surgery 16 months ago, said the U.S. trade embargo had prevented Cuba from operating the Cienfuegos refinery since 1995.
"It has not been easy to keep our socialist revolution going with a fierce enemy 90 miles (145 km) away, but we are here to stay," he said.
