Venezuela cancels Haiti debt

Helping the people of Haiti
Madam, – Unfortunately the statement “Haiti still owes . . . $296 million to Venezuela” (Editorial, January 27th) is inaccurate.

This debt was officially cancelled by the Venezuelan government on January 25th.

Haiti’s debt to Venezuela was $295 million, which was mainly due to Venezuela for the oil it supplied to Haiti under its preferential oil pricing scheme through Petrocaribe, a continental programme funded by Venezuela to help alleviate poverty in the region and to aid member nations to overcome the problems of high oil prices and the volatility of such prices.

In addition, Venezuela has also sent to Haiti an advance team of doctors, search and rescue experts as well as food. So far Venezuela has sent 616 tons of food aid and 116 tons of equipment, including water purification systems, electrical generators and heavy equipment for moving rubble. A tanker with 225,000 barrels of diesel fuel and gasoline (worth approximately $18 million) was shipped from Venezuela last Sunday.

Regarding the debt with Haiti, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said, “Haiti has no debt with Venezuela – on the contrary, it is Venezuela that has a historic debt with Haiti.” Mr Chavez was referring to the support that Haiti – which obtained its independence from France in 1804 – gave Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolivar in 1815 and 1816 in his quest to free his own country from Spanish colonial rule. – Yours, etc,

SAMUEL MONCADA,

Venezuelan Ambassador,
Cromwell Road,
London, England.