Caribbean Should Trade Venezuelan Oil for Homegrown Sun

Still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Sandy and the 2008 financial crisis, many Caribbean countries now face another threat: the possible curtailment of Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan program that has kept their economies afloat with deals on discounted oil.

Consider the case of , which this month had to go to the International Monetary Fund for a $932 million loan after rescheduling $9 billion worth of domestic debt. With exports of bauxite and sugar down, fewer tourist arrivals and Sandy’s lingering costs, its economy has been shrinking. Unemployment hovers at 14 percent. Last year, public-sector debt was up to 140 percent of gross domestic product.