KINGSTON, Jamaica - WITH SPECULATIONS rife over whether Venezuela would continue the PetroCaribe arrangement if Hugo Chávez is replaced as president, Jamaica's energy minister says willpower such as the ailing leader's is a necessary ingredient to the survival of the deal.
"I think there is commitment on the part of the administration (to continue it), but because there was opposition domestically. It does require a strength of character that President Chávez has to see it through, cause it what it will," Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell told The Gleaner yesterday.
Chávez, 58, was due to be sworn in for a fourth term today. However, his inauguration has been postponed due to his ill health.