South American nations to launch bank as rival to IMF/ Países fundan el Banco Sur

Venezuela's leftist government is leading Brazil, Argentina and other regional economies in creating a new bank with the ambition of casting off unwelcome oversight by the IMF and World Bank. The idea was first announced by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez last December as part of his crusade against US influence and international financial institutions that he says are merely "tools of Washington." The finance and economy ministers of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela met last week in Rio de Janeiro to outline the main elements of the "Banco del Sur" -- or Bank of the South ( full information)/El Banco del Sur es una entidad financiera que comenzará a operar en noviembre, impulsada por el presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez. El organismo fue diseñado como una herramienta de desarrollo regional, que arrancará con un capital de US$7,000 millones ( información completa)