Momentum is growing in Latin America to form an alternative to the U.S.-controlled World Bank. Venezuela and Argentina have already pledged more than one billion dollars to start the Banco del Sur, or Bank of the South. Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay have all expressed support for the bank.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: “We’re meeting all the ministers to discuss what’s the goal of this bank. Is it a bank for financing? Is it a bank to develop the region? How will each country participate? In what way will we participate? So to create a bank, it’s necessary for us to have sustainability in the idea. It’s important for it to be a financial institution of much credibility and, for that, we need to resolve all political divergence that may exist about the bank.”

Last week Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Venezuela would pull out of the World Bank and IMF.

Hugo Chavez: “We don’t need to go to Washington, not to the IMF, nor to the World Bank, nor to anything. I want to formalize the exit of Venezuela from the World Bank, from the IMF and from all of that. We don’t need anymore to have a governor or a representative there. No, let’s get out. We don’t even want to be there, and they return our money to us because now they owe us. They need to return our money to us, because they owe us.”