BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Six South American presidents on Sunday launched the Bank of the South, the region's answer to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as a source for development funds.
Presidents Nestor Kirchner of Argentina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Nicanor Duarte of Paraguay, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela -- all political on the left or left of center -- signed the bank into being.
"Motherland yes, colony no!" chanted a group of activists, most belonging to Kirchner's leftist Peronist party, who stood behind the presidents at the signing ceremony at the president's office. |