Chávez pushes for withdrawal of international reserves from U.S. banks
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CARACAS: The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, urged his Latin American allies to begin withdrawing billions of dollars in international reserves from U.S. banks, warning of a looming U.S. economic crisis.
Chávez made the suggestion Saturday as he hosted a summit aimed at increasing Latin American integration and countering U.S. influence.
"We should start to bring our reserves here," Chávez 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, Chávez and other leaders launched a new development bank at the summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA.
The left-leaning regional trade alliance supported by Chávez is intended to offer an alternative, socialist path to integration while snubbing U.S.-backed free-trade deals.
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Chávez noted that the 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," Chávez told the gathering, attended by the presidents of Bolivia and Nicaragua, the vice president of Cuba, Carlos Lage, and other leaders.
Chávez warned that U.S. "imperialism is entering into a crisis that can affect all of us" and said Latin America "will save itself alone."
Rice left Colombia on Friday after a trip aimed at reviving a free-trade deal that has stalled in the U.S. Congress. She sidestepped an opportunity to confront Chávez, who accused Colombia and the United States of plotting "military aggression" against Venezuela.
Chávez took up the issue again Saturday, saying, "I warn the world of the following: The U.S. empire is creating the conditions to generate an armed conflict between Colombia and Venezuela."
Formerly cordial relations between the two nations have been tense since November, when Colombia's U.S.-allied president, Álvaro Uribe, said Chávez was no longer welcome to continue mediating a hostages-for-prisoners swap with Colombia's leftist rebels.
Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua, joined Chávez 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.
The leaders signed a series of accords at the end of the meeting pledging cooperation in areas from energy to agriculture, plus a document denouncing "the warlike attitude of the U.S. government and its attacks against our governments."
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Caracas rejected that characterization. "A door is always open to dialogue and cooperation on issues of mutual concern," Robin Holzhauer said.
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