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Yahoo!
Sun Sep 8, 3:21 PM ET.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela resumed oil shipments to Cuba on Sunday,
five months after they were suspended due to a failed coup and Cuba's failure
keep up payments.
President Hugo Chavez said during his weekly radio and television show that "the
first shipment has probably already left."
Venezuela and Cuba signed a deal in October 2000 allowing Cuba to import
53,000 barrels a day under preferential terms. The terms included a 15-year
repayment period, two-year grace period and a 2 percent interest rate.
State-owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela suspended the deal after
Chavez was briefly deposed in April, arguing that Cuba owed $142 million on the
pact. Chavez has said the debt has been refinanced, but has not provided
details.
Opposition politicians have challenged the agreement in the Supreme Court,
arguing that Chavez failed to seek congressional approval before signing it. The
government says it has similar deals with 12 other Caribbean and Central
American countries.
Chavez considers Cuban President Fidel Castro a close ally and has
strengthened Venezuela's relations with the communist island. Venezuela provides
one-third of Cuba's oil imports. | 
