SANTO DOMINGO. – President Hugo Chavez’s visit with Dominican par slated for today noon has led to heightened security in the National Palace, where access to the parking areas has been restricted and the entry of employees and visitors has been halted.

Since early morning numerous military have been deployed in the National Palace’s surroundings whereas in the frontal esplanade a red carpet was unfurled and a platform erected for Venezuela’s chief executive to receive the military honors.

FILE.- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez arrived early Wednesday in Santo Domingo’s main airport for a visit with Dominican par Leonel Fernandez and are expected to discuss agreements on the war against drugs, communications as well as in oil, especially the sale of a 49 percent stake in the country’s only refinery, Refidomsa.

Chavez’s visit will bolster relations with the Caribbean nation, which forms part of the Petrocaribe Agreement since 2005, and whose 60 years of a fruitful bilateral relation has led to several pacts on energy, oil, trade, education and even air traffic.

“This is going to be very important, because it places us in the heart of the Caribbean (Dominican Republic). We will send our petroleum so that it is refined and distributed not only in the Dominican market, but also in the market of the entire central Caribbean,” Chavez said in a statement issued from Buenos Aires.

Dominican Republic is Latin America’s eighth biggest economy and just the tourism industry contributes more than 1.0 billion dollars per year, although among its main imports are oil and its derivatives, coal, food, durable consumer goods, pharmaceuticals machinery and equipment, vehicles among others.

The visit of Venezuela’s Head of State, who arrived via the Las Americas International Airport, culminates a months-long process of talks leading to the signature for the stake in the refinery, for a reported US$131.5 million.