Nicaragua, choked by high energy prices, is to expand a deal with Venezuela under which it will receive subsidised oil and badly needed power plants.
Daniel Ortega, the president-elect, had reached an agreement on behalf of Nicaraguan mayors in April with Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, to receive cut-price oil products.
Emilio Rapaccioli, Nicaragua's next energy minister, said on Tuesday: "This contract will be expanded to import greater volumes of crude and derivative products."
Nicaragua is in the midst of an energy crisis and experiencing daily power cuts. Its transport sector has also been hit.
Venezuelan help
Venezuela will deliver the generating plants to Nicaragua this month and they should be producing electricity within weeks, Rapaccioli told reporters.
Chavez's energy deal with Ortega, who won the presidential election last month after 16 years in opposition, is one of a string of such deals the Venezuelan leader has made with allies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the 1980s, Ortega's Sandinista government confiscated businesses and farms after toppling a US-backed dictator. Ortega now promotes a moderate socialist programme and says he has put his Marxist and militarist past behind him.