Capriles: no need to give oil away to develop social programs

Venezuelan opposition leader and presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski said Tuesday that Venezuelan oil is currently managed as a tool to leverage "a political project," which he pledged to replace with a project meeting the needs of the Venezuelan people.

Contrary to what the Government has made people believe, Capriles said it was not necessary to give oil away so as to enter an agreement with other nations to develop social missions.  He also remarked the emblematic case of Cuba in which "affording the presence of a Cuban physician in Venezuela costs over USD 9,300 per month to the State as part of the oil exchange agreement; no Venezuelan is paid such amount of money as part of his salary."

"During my term in office not even a single barrel of oil will be given to other countries for free," Capriles reaffirmed. He added that as long as any Venezuelan citizen is hungry "and seeks our help, the country cannot squander its resources. We need to take care of our own people and then we may start thinking" in other people's needs.

The presidential candidate outlined that overall Cuba, Argentina, China, Belarus, Nicaragua, and Bolivia obtain, under the agreements they have signed with Venezuela, discounts of over USD 7 billion. Such amount, he claimed, could have been used to build 440,000 dwellings in a 12-month period.

He stressed that he does not intend to halt oil sales, but to sign agreements favoring Venezuela.