Chavez Urges Withdrawals From U.S. Banks
By  IAN JAMES,
AP
Posted: 2008-01-26 13:22:20
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -  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." 

Chavez noted that U.S. Secretary of State  Condoleezza Rice visited Colombia 
in recent days, saying "that has to do with  this summit." 

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

Chavez warned that U.S. "imperialism is entering  into a crisis that can 
affect all of us" and said Latin America "will save  itself alone." 

To help pool resources within the region, Chavez and  other leaders were 
setting up 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. 

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega joined Chavez in  his criticism of 
U.S.-style capitalism, saying "the dictatorship of global  capitalism ... has lost 
control." Three days earlier, Ortega had shouted "Long  live the U.S. 
government" as he inaugurated an American-financed section of  highway in his country. 

On Saturday, Chavez welcomed the Caribbean  island of Dominica into ALBA, 
joining Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba. Attending as  observers were the prime 
ministers of Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and  the Grenadines, along with 
officials from Ecuador, Honduras, Haiti and St. Kitts  and Nevis. 

The ALBA Bank is to be started with $1 billion to US$1.5  billion of capital, 
Venezuelan Finance Minister Rafael Isea said Friday,  according to the 
state-run Bolivarian News Agency.  




**************Start the year off right.  Easy ways to stay in shape.     
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤