Declaration of Caracas on the occasion of
the I Meeting of Ministers of Energy of the
South American Community of Nations
Caracas,
September 26, 2005.
First Meeting of Heads
of State of the South American Community of
Nations
Brasilia, September 30
We the Ministers of Energy and high level
representatives of the Governments of
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay,
Surinam and Venezuela; gathered in Caracas,
Venezuela, on September 26, 2005, as agreed
in the Declaration of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs of the South American Community of
Nations, in Guayaquil, on August 2, 2005,
recognizing that, despite the advances in
the integration in energy sector in South
American region, and the enormous potential
of energetic resources in the region, South
America still faces serious challenges to
assure its supply of energy, and also:
Bearing in mind the following precedents
concerning previous meetings and
declarations of integration:
Resolution XXXIV/D/420, of the Latin
American Energy Organization (OLADE) on
energetic integration, signed in October
2003;
The Declaration of the I Meeting of South
American Ministers of Energy on integration
of the Energy sector, in the Island of
Margarita, signed by Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil and Venezuela, on 29 October, 2004,
whereby the implementation of concrete
actions towards the establishment of
PETROSUR is declared;
The conceptual foundations for the
establishment of PETROSUR’s Secretariat,
signed by the Ministers of Energy of
Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela in Brasilia,
on May 10, 2005;
The Agreement of Accession of the Oriental
Republic of Uruguay to PETROSUR’s
Secretariat, in Montevideo, on August 10,
2005;
The Declaration of PETROCARIBE issued on
June 29, 2005, in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela;
The II Meeting of Ministers of Energy of
MERCOSUR, Chile, Peru and Bolivia, held in
Montevideo, Uruguay, on August 22, 2005;
The presentation of the strategy of
PETROAMERICA made by Venezuela on this
Meeting;
CONSIDERING that the strategy of
PETROAMERICA seeks to constitute a
geopolitical tool based on the
identification of mechanisms of cooperation
in the energy sector and integration, as the
grounds to social and economic improvement
of its peoples;
CONSIDERING that PETROAMERICA aims at
becoming a multilateral agreement for the
coordination of energetic policies in order
to foster regional integration and to speed
the decision-making, leading, thus, to the
successful culmination of the integration
processes;
CONSIDERING that PETROAMERICA seeks to
identify complementarities and benefit from
the energetic potentials and the benefits of
the exchanges in order to solve the
energetic, economic and social asymmetries
of the region;
ASSUMING that the PETROAMERICA initiative
aims at the energetic integration in the
energy sector through a framework which will
speed the bilateral agreements on energy;
AWARE of the need of integration in the
energy sector to further emphasize the
social development of our peoples;
DETERMINED to search as a fundamental
objective of the integration processes, for
the benefit or our peoples, the best access
in terms of availability and costs;
CONVINCED that all countries have the right
to make their peoples’, sovereignty be
respected in order to ensure the interests
of their nations and their autonomy in the
use and management of their energy resources;
CONSIDERING that the strategy PETROAMERICA
does not limit itself to the hydrocarbons
sector but it comprehends the energy sector
as a whole;
AWARE that the integration in the energy
sector is very important to consolidate the
regional integration;
WE AGREE:
TO CONTINUE taking concrete steps in the
PETROAMERICA initiative aiming at
materializing the integration in the energy
sector of our countries, based on the
following principles:
The Cooperation and Complementation among
the South American countries;
The solidarity among the peoples;·
The respect for Sovereignty and Self-determination
of the peoples;
The sovereign right to establish the
criteria that will assure the sustainable
development in the use of renewable and non-renewable
natural resources, as well as to
administrate the rate of exploitation of
non-renewable natural resources;
The regional integration in the search for
complementarities among the countries in the
balanced use of the resources for the
development of their peoples;
The· respect for the different forms of
property which each State develops their
energy resources.
APPOINT the Minister of Energy and Oil from
the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as the
rapporteur on the Agreements reached in this
meeting, before the Summit of Heads of State
of the South American Community of Nations
to be held in the city of Brasília, on 29
and 30 September, 2005.
INVITE the countries present in this meeting
to consider joining the process of study of
a regional energy complementation Agreement,
as proposed by Uruguay in the Meeting of
Ministries of Energy of MERCOSUR, Chile,
Peru and Bolivia, held in Montevideo,
Uruguay, on August 22, 2005.
We equally, acknowledge the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela for its warm
hospitality and the excellent organization
of this meeting.
Caracas, September 26, 2005.
