Venezuela swapping oil for food as economic crisis grows

CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Venezuela is trading oil for food with Jamaica in a deal that sends basics goods to the South American country as its economic crisis grows.

Jamaica announced the deal last week, in which the island nation will pay off its oil debt to Venezuela in with about $4 million in various goods.

"You could say that it's goods and services for oil," Wesley Hughes, CEO of Jamaica's PetroCaribe Development Fund, said to CNN. "It's going to be up to Venezuela to decide what they need."

Severe food shortages have swept Venezuela since the drop in oil prices uncovered the economic mismanagement of former President Hugo Chavez. Current President Nicolas Maduro is facing the possibility of removal from office in the next few months as the opposition petitions for a recall referendum.

The 2005 Petro-Caribe agreement ensures all Caribbean countries will receive special rates for Venezuelan oil.