Petrocaribe and Venezuelan Hunger

Petrocaribe was going to be a way for Venezuela to lead a bloc of left-leaning countries in solidarity. It would end dependence on the United States. As Hugo Chávez put it back in 2007:

"We have begun to create a new geopolitics of oil that is not at the service of the interests of imperialism and big capitalists," Mr Chavez said in his speech.

Ironically, it strengthened dependence on oil prices and Americans (among others) buying oil. As oil prices unraveled, so did the agreement. Now it has reached a new low, where Jamaica is going to pay off its debts with food and other necessities because Venezuelans are going hungry and hospitals need supplies.

In a statement to the state news agency, Jamaica Information Service, government minister Ruel Reid said: "This decision is taken primarily to give support in the form of medicine, food and fertiliser".

To be fair, part of the Petrocaribe concept was to allow countries to pay back as they could, including with food or whatever else. But that was supposed to be determined by their need, not the dire need of the Venezuelan people themselves.

This is perhaps the final nail in the coffin of Venezuelan foreign policy, which was based on merging ideology and oil money. Once the oil money started to dwindle, so did external interest in the ideology.