Venezuela Pulling Out Of IMF, World Bank

Chavez, who says he wants to steer Venezuela toward socialism, made the announcement a day after telling a meeting of allied leaders that Latin America would be better off without the U.S.-backed World Bank or IMF. He has often blamed their lending policies for perpetuating poverty. Chavez wants to set up a new lender run by Latin American nations and has pledged to support it with Venezuela’s booming oil revenues. The regional lender, which he has called “Bank of the South,” would dole out financing for state projects across Latin America. Chavez has criticized past Venezuelan governments for signing agreements with the IMF to restructure the economy - plans blamed for contributing to racing inflation. Under former President Carlos Andres Perez in 1989, violent protests broke out in Caracas in response to IMF austerity measures that brought a hike in subsidized gasoline prices and public transport fares. Enraged people took the streets in violence that killed at least 300 people - and possibly many more. The riots came to be known as the “Caracazo,” and Chavez often refers to it as a rebellion against the status quo. During Sunday’s talks with leaders from Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, Chavez predicted that “sooner or later, those institutions will fall due to their own weight.” http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/01/890/ [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on May 2, 2007]

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