(JTA) — The Palestinian Authority and Venezuela inked a deal in which the South American nation will provide the P.A. with oil and diesel fuel.
Under the deal signed Friday in Caracas by P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas, the Venezuelan petroleum company PDVSA will send 240,000 barrels of oil and diesel to the P.A. No date was given for the shipment in a deal known as “Petro Palestine.”
“We welcome the Palestinian people and the Arabs,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said. “Our people supports your right to a land of prosperity. Today, Petro Palestine has been born.”
Abbas, who is on a three-day visit to Latin America, thanked Maduro for providing the Palestinian Authority with a fuel source outside Israel.
“Thank you Venezuela for supporting Palestine,” Abbas said. “Thank you Venezuela for helping to break the monopoly that Israel has over our economy. Thank you Venezuela for responding to our needs. Thank you Venezuela for being available to continue to lend the Palestinian people more support in their fight.”
Abbas has requested that Palestine be granted observer status in three South American organizations: the Union of South American Nations, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
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