Venezuelan Opposition Candidate Would Renegotiate Agreements with Cuba

HAVANA TIMES — The main opposition candidate for the Venezuelan presidency, Henrique Capriles, said on Monday that he would renegotiate trade agreements with Cuba if he were to win the election, reported EFE.

The candidate, 40, expressed his intention to retain existing social programs that have been undertaken with the support of the island, although considered as excessive those payments made by his country in return for assistance from Cuban doctors and technicians.

According to Capriles’s estimates, the cost of those services are around $800 million, though he believes the value of the oil paid to Cuba is close to $4 billion dollars for the 45,000 Cuban technicians serving in the South American country.

The Venezuelan presidential elections are set for Sunday, Oct. 7. President Chavez, Cuba’s closest political and economic ally, closes his campaign Thursday in Caracas.