Chavez promises energy projects for Nicaragua

PUERTO SANDINO, Nicaragua, July 21 (Reuters) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his country would build petrochemical, electricity and natural gas plants in Nicaragua worth 1.5 billion dollar to help the struggling country.

Chavez, a close ally of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, promised the projects during a visit to the country to start the construction of a 2.5 billion dollar gas refinery, also being built by with Venezuela's support.

Since taking office, Chavez, an enemy of Washington, has delivered tanker-loads of subsidized oil and gas to Nicaragua, which is suffering from an energy crisis that has left the capital with frequent blackouts.

''The United States took Venezuela's oil for a hundred years,'' Chavez said as he placed the refinery's first brick, accompanied by Ortega. ''Now that oil is for the people of Latin America.'' Nicaragua, one of Latin America's poorest countries, generates 80 per cent of its electricity from oil-derived fuel, and high world oil prices have led to power cuts.

REUTERS DH PM0739