| Latortue at last moves to sign up to Chávez's PetroCaribe deal
In early October, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez publicly announced that Haiti could join the 11 other Caribbean countries that had already agreed to be supplied with fuel on low interest terms and with deferred payment. However, the interim government of prime minister Gérard Latortue had not reacted. Now it appears as though the pressure applied by the Collective to Mobilize against the High Cost of Living - a coalition of Haitian civil society organizations - has paid off. Alejandro Granados, vice-president of exploration at PDVSA (Venezuelan Petroleum Inc.) and head of the company's Caribbean subsidiary, this week traveled to Haiti in order to iron out the details of that country's entry into PetroCaribe. In September, the Collective (Kolektif Mobilizasyon Kont Lavichč in Creole) began organizing demonstrations against the continued rises in fuel prices in Haiti, and started to collect signatures for a petition calling on President Chávez to press for Haiti's inclusion in PetroCaribe. During October, the Collective kept up the pressure on the Latortue government issuing press releases demanding to know why Haiti was one of the only Caribbean countries not taking advantage of the Venezuelan offer. In this context, the Collective asked why the Latortue government was still ignoring the plight of the majority of the Haitian people who have been experiencing a sharp decline in living standards as prices of transport and many commodities have continued to rise. The Haiti Support Group congratulates the Collective to Mobilize against the High Cost of Living on its efforts, and reaffirms its determination to provide solidarity to civil society organizations working with the majority population for participatory democracy and progressive solutions.
The Collective to Mobilize against the High Cost of Living is composed of:
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