Venezuela and Argentina late Friday signed energy and trade agreements aimed at strengthening ties between the South American nations, including a deal to repair Venezuelan oil tankers in Argentine shipyards.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and his Argentine counterpart Nestor Kirchner signed the accords in a ceremony on Venezuela's Margarita Island following a bilateral trade conference this week.
"We have a foundation that will facilitate bilateral trade and allow us to triple our exchange in 12 months," Kirchner said at the signing ceremony.
Argentina wants to bolster energy ties with Opec member Venezuela, which has been shipping the country fuel to help ease an energy crisis. In April, Venezuela agreed to export 8 million barrels of fuel oil and 1 million barrels of diesel to Argentina between May and October.
Venezuela will use the funds from the fuel sales to buy Argentine goods and for maintenance on ships owned by Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA at the Rio Santiago shipyard.
Chavez, who is battling to win an August 15 referendum on his rule of the world's No. 5 oil exporter, has been using Venezuela's vast energy resources to strengthen political ties in the region.
A fierce nationalist, Chavez has often criticised the hemisphere-wide Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) proposed by the United States. He promotes integration in Latin America as a cornerstone of his self-proclaimed revolution for the poor.
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