TN PETRÓLEO

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised Saturday to supply Paraguay with all the oil it needs to meet its repeated problems of crude shortages.


Chavez made the announcement during a popular event held in the town of San Pedro de Ycuamandiyu, about 318 kilometers (198 miles) north of Asuncion, in which he signed with the new Paraguayan president, former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo, several cooperation agreements.



"We have signed the first commitment to supply Paraguay with all the oil it needs, right down to the last drop," said the Venezuelan head of state, whose country regularly provides 70,000 cubic meters (440,300 barrels) of diesel to the Paraguayan market per month.


Paraguay, which produces no fossil fuels of its own, consumes 90.000 cubic meters (566,000 barrels) of diesel per month, with the remainder of the fuel coming from Argentina and Brazil.


The letters of intent signed by both presidents also included Venezuelan aid in the areas of food, trade and energy along with educational and social cooperation.


"We signed a group of accords and we want to carry them out to the letter beginning today, and may this be the first step in building a closer, more productive bilateral relationship," Chavez said.


For his part, Lugo, who Friday succeeded Nicanor Duarte in the presidency for a five-year term, expressed gratitude for the initiatives of the Caracas government.


"What we have signed today with the people of Venezuela, may it not be something that stays only in letters and good intentions," he said.


Chavez and Lugo participated in a popular event in San Pedro Ycuamandiyu that was organized by the governor-elect of San Pedro province, Jose Ledesma, of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, or PLRA, principal supporter of the ex-bishop in Congress.


The Venezuelan president was the last of the nine heads of state that took part Friday in the ex-prelate's swearing-in who is still in Paraguay.


Lugo, 57, who was a bishop for 10 years in San Pedro, one of the poorest regions in the country, took office after putting an end to the Colorado Party's 61 years in power in the April 20 presidential election.