Ivan Orellan, the general director for International Cooperation at Venezuela’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, affirmed that Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires welcomed the idea of activating diplomatic, political, economic, commercial and social relations between the two countries.

“We are in conversations, following the normal channels of protocol, and we predict that before the end of the year the diplomatic representation will open,” stressed Orellan, saying that first “it is necessary to find out how to do so, and to what degree.”

Chávez’s envoy to Praia said that the conversations are being carried out within the framework of the United Nations.

Cape Verde’s energy situation was another issue raised by Pedro Pires, with Venezuela, as an OPEC member country, expressing its desire to support “the neediest countries” in this area, according to Orellan.

“In commercial relations, we understand and we have an obligation, as an OPEC member country, to ensure that the cost of energy for countries that were not favored by nature with excess fuel be lower,” he affirmed.

“We feel this obligation because we operate more from the point of view of solidarity than from that of competitiveness. We feel obligated to do something to alleviate the burden of needy countries,” he added.

As an example, he recalled the accord between his country and the Caribbean, a model that could be followed in its relations with Cape Verde, in which Venezuela provides energy and is paid in goods and services. “This could be done here as well,” he stated.

Venezuela is the world’s seventh-largest producer of petroleum, with a daily production of some 3.1 million barrels.