Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged South American countries on Saturday to withdraw their international reserves in U.S. banks citing a looming recession faced by the world power.
Chavez, who was presiding over the Bolivarian Alternative Summit of the Americas (ALBA), said South American countries should bring back their reserves since the United States is facing an imminent recession.
Otherwise, all South America could be plunged into this crisis, the president said, adding that Latin America could better take care of its own business.
His remarks came as leaders from Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba, all ALBA members, gathered in the Venezuelan capital for the summit, during which the establishment of a development bank would be discussed, according to Venezuelan official sources.
The bank has a startup capital of 1 billion to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars and related documents might be signed during the meeting, the sources said.
The ALBA was initiated by Chavez in 2001 aimed at promoting cooperation and integration among Latin American and the Caribbean countries in trade and economy.
The latest move came shortly after the Bank of the South was formally founded on Dec. 9, 2007 in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires by seven South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.
The Bank of South is designed to provide financing to South American countries and seen as a counterweight to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Source: Xinhua
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