[NYTr] Chavez inaugurates refinery in Nicaragua

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

AP via The Miami Herald - July 20, 2007
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/AP/story/177297.html


Chavez inaugurates refinery in Nicaragua

By Filadelfo Aleman
The Associated Press

MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday
inaugurated a 150,000-barrel-a-day refinery the nation is building in
Nicaragua as part of the leftist leader's oil-funded battle against
U.S. influence in the region.

Chavez said the $2.5 billion refinery will allow Nicaragua - the second
poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere - to earn $700 million
annually.

"I have come to deepen ties with the Nicaraguan people through their
government," said Chavez, who a day earlier celebrated the 28th
anniversary of the Sandinista revolution with his ally, President
Daniel Ortega.

Later Friday, Chavez called himself and Ortega the region's
"anti-imperialist vaccine."

Ortega vowed during his campaign to have changed from his revolutionary
days and said he would work with the United States, once his arch
enemy. But since taking office, he has increasingly attacked the U.S.
and made more radical statements.

On Friday, Ortega called President Bush a "world tyrant" who came to
power "through fraud."

Venezuela is building new refineries in politically aligned countries
such as Nicaragua, Cuba and Brazil to ease the country's reliance on
the United States - its main market for oil.

An avowed socialist who has sought to counter U.S. influence around the
world, Chavez promised Nicaragua millions of dollars in financial aid
and investment after Ortega's inauguration in January.

He also has vowed to become the sole energy supplier to Nicaragua,
Cuba, Bolivia, and Haiti in an attempt to strengthen his bloc, known as
The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.

Formed in 2004 by Chavez and Castro to promote trade and cooperation
along socialist lines and oppose a U.S.-backed free trade area, the
alliance has evolved into a symbol of Chavez's petrodollar-based clout
in the region.

Ortega said while Venezuela has sent generators to curb Nicaragua's
rolling blackouts and offered the country $400 million in aid, "I
haven't seen the United States send one single energy plant during this
emergency."

Ortega, whose Sandinista government led a war against U.S.-backed
Contra rebels in the 1980s, returned to the presidency in January and
has cultivated a strong relationship with Chavez, the White House's No.
1 foe in the region.

U.S. ambassador Paul Triveli said Ortega's comments surprised him. He
said the United States has launched a five-year aid program that has so
far given Nicaragua $10 million and there are plans to give an
additional $16 million.