Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Chavez: Bring the money back

Venezuela's leader urges allies to pull their reserves from U.S. banks.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged his Latin American allies on Saturday to begin withdrawing billions of dollars in international reserves from U.S. banks, warning of a looming U.S. economic crisis.

Chavez made the suggestion as he hosted a summit aimed at boosting Latin American integration and rolling back U.S. influence.

"We should start to bring our reserves here," Chavez said. "Why does that money have to be in the north? ... You can't put all your eggs in one basket."

To help pool resources within the region, Chavez and other leaders launched a new development bank at the summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Nations of Our America, or ALBA.

The left-leaning regional trade alliance first proposed by Chavez is intended to offer an alternative, socialist path to integration while snubbing U.S.-backed free-trade deals.

"The empire doesn't accept alternatives," Chavez told the gathering, attended by the presidents of Bolivia and Nicaragua and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage.

Coca leaves: Chavez accepted a handful of coca leaves from Bolivian President Evo Morales and chewed them during a summit meeting on Saturday, saying, "Coca isn't cocaine."

"I've really grown used to it every day in the morning," he added.

He and Morales joined in defending the leaf, chewed by Andean Indians for centuries, while condemning its use in making cocaine.

[Last modified January 27, 2008, 02:00:00]