Petrocaribe has been part of the "pink tide" in Latin America seeking to achieve post-neoliberal development in the region.

[1] In 2013 Petrocaribe established links with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) aiming to go beyond oil trade and promoting economic cooperation.

[4] Guatemala joined in July 2008 but left the organization in November 2013 stating that Venezuela had not provided them with the ultra-low financing rates that they had been promised.

However, Hugo Chávez actively "courted" newly elected president René Préval when he took office, much to Chevron, Exxon, and the US State Department's chagrin.

[7] Honduras became the 17th member of the alliance in December 2007, under President Manuel Zelaya, ⁣⁣ but left the organization after the 2009 coup d'état before rejoining it in May 2012.

[9] Barbados denied that it had succumbed to pressure from the United States, which has a strained relationship with Venezuela, as the reason, but has not ruled out agreeing to Petrocaribe in the future.

As of 2019, PetroCaribe has mostly dried up because of Venezuela's eroded domestic production and refining, but political and commercial ties in some prominent cases have endured.

Critics say PetroCaribe suppressed the development of renewable energy, burdened these small nations with billions of dollars in debt – and spurred corruption.

[15] In July 2023, CARICOM members called for the removal of U.S. sanctions from Venezuela which prohibit them from purchasing oil under the favorable terms of PetroCaribe.