Caracas Daily Journal (Vincent Bevins): Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said his government would soon make a decision on a Venezuelan offer to build an oil refinery – a proposal that has drawn criticism on this poor island that promotes itself as an ecotourism destination.
Skerrit, speaking shortly after meeting with a Venezuelan delegation and critics of the project, said a majority of the 70,000 islanders were in favor of the refinery, which proponents say would supply muchneeded jobs and diversify the economy.
Environmentalists and the Barbados-based Caribbean Conservation Association have urged Dominica to reject the refinery proposal, which they say conflicts with efforts to promote ecotourism on the "nature island" of the Caribbean.
The proposed $76 million (euro52 million) refinery, which would produce 10,000 barrels of oil a day, would be part of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's Petrocaribe program, intended to provide needy Caribbean nations deferred payment and long-term financing for fuel shipments.
Skerrit has supported the project, but said the government should consider other economic options for the island, one of the poorest and least developed in the Caribbean. Meetings are under way with political parties, hotel associations and other civic groups. "We are on the threshold of taking a firm decision on the oil refinery," Skerrit said.
On Wednesday, a Venezuelan delegation traveled to Dominica's capital to discuss the status of the proposed refinery and other projects funded by Chávez's government, according to a statement from the South American nation.
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ReplyDeleteIt's easy to see here that liberal environmentalists invariably make false political-economic choices -- like choosing "the environment" over the interests of the people (that's not really the choice. It's a false one, actually). In this, it can be seen that they're clearly easily manipulated by the words and campaigns of others with their own agendas: so for instance, it's not hard to imagine "environmentalists" also caving-in on -- and even cheerleading -- "humanitarian" imperialist intervention in some resource hot-spot on the globe. Which is pretty bizarre when you consider how these same people turn around and always attempt to throw monkey-wrenches into socialist class-struggle, with their middle-class pacifist moralism and hypocritical "non-violence".
ReplyDeleteThe people of Dominica deserve to free themselves from imperialist dependency -- and Venezuela is there to help them do it. And so I find it pretty disgusting that imperialist meddling in Américan Latina and the Caribbean comes here under the cover of petit-bourgeois liberal "environmentalism" and "eco-tourism". I hope dominicans keep an even keel about this and understand that they can have both -- and that they shouldn't let narrow interests continue to dictate their common future.