Guyanese Online

It is therefore not surprising that Guyana’s president, David Granger, and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro met separately in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz in Al Saud when they attended recently the fourth summit of Arab and South American Countries.

David Jessop

In part, the interest of both men was in Saudi Arabia’s decision to continue pumping oil in quantities that will maintain its global market share but with the effect that world energy prices will remain low. It is a decision that touches the strategic interests of many states from Iran to Russia as well as non-state actors like ISIS.

For President Maduro, a return to much higher oil prices would not only improve his country’s economic fortunes, but also facilitate the expansion of PetroCaribe related programmes across the region. Any significant increase in the price of oil would also offer the opportunity to promote his alternative social thinking, change hemispheric relationships, and broaden resistance against what Caracas regards as ideological and economic pressure from the US and multinationals.    Continue reading →